


Uchiha MC

by Astroaves



Category: Naruto
Genre: Age Difference, Alternate Universe - Bikers, Angst, BAMF Haruno Sakura, Communication, Consensual, Doctor Haruno Sakura, Empowered Women, F/M, Female Friendship, Feminism, Healthy Relationships, Hurt/Comfort, Nurse Haruno Sakura, Pregnancy, Smut, Surgery, Tattoos, True Love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-03
Updated: 2018-09-30
Packaged: 2018-12-10 19:33:07
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 19
Words: 191,118
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11698434
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Astroaves/pseuds/Astroaves
Summary: After finally being invited to meet the rest of Sasuke’s family, the infamous Uchiha Motorcycle Club, Sakura leaves a lasting impression on the leader of the club and Sasuke's uncle, Madara Uchiha. Captivated by the roguish MC president who continues to shatter her every expectation, Sakura finds herself drawn in again and again.





	1. First Impressions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This idea had been stuck in my head for a while so I figured I’d give it a write. After all, the thought of Uchiha's, especially Madara, in cuts and on motorcycles is irresistible. What began as a one shot has gradually turned into something much more meaningful and much more dear to me. It has become a kind of cathartic release while I explore what I think a true romance between two people who love, respect, and cherish each other would look like, what I think true love looks like (with some angst and drama thrown in for flavor).
> 
> If you've come here expecting the worst based on tired old stereotypes, know that you're in for a lovely surprise. I only write empowered, strong willed women and passionate, reverential men.
> 
> Guide to Motorcycle Club Officers:  
> President/P (Madara) – leader of the chapter.  
> Vice President/VP (Izuna) – second in command, fills in for president when gone.  
> Sergeant at Arms (Obito) – “enforcer”, maintains order, leads assaults, security.  
> Road Captain (Shisui) – logistics during club runs/rallies.  
> Secretary (Itachi) – club paperwork, keeps track of meetings, official business.  
> Treasurer (Izumi) – In charge of money, collecting debts, business opportunities.  
> Prospect (Sasuke) – earning right to wear full patch and be in club.  
> Patchmembers (Kagami and others) – regular member, non-officer.

****_The Dead End._

 

Sakura quirked an eyebrow at the bright red neon sign posted above the bar outside the tinted window of her and Naruto’s ride.

 

‘ _Certainly a fitting name for a biker bar…_ ’ she mused as her eyes flitted across the outside of the secluded building.

 

It had taken a twenty minute drive just to reach the bar deeply tucked away in the backwoods of Konoha.

 

The building itself was painted a dark color that she couldn’t make out with night having fallen and was, by all intents and purposes, absolutely unremarkable. Rows of floodlights lit up the dirt parking lot, attracting hundreds of insects that fluttered in the bright lights and illuminating the dozens of motorcycles parked in perfect rows. A few men in cuts displaying the Uchiha MC’s crest on the back lingered around the double doors leading inside, smoking cigarettes and passing around a joint.

 

“It looks… kind of intimidating,” Naruto commented from beside her as their Uber driver pulled into the dirt lot.

 

“So did Kakashi when we first met him, but look at him now,” Sakura replied, double checking to make sure that her phone, the key to her apartment, and her wallet were safely tucked away in her clutch.

 

“Ahh, good point…” the blond conceded as he eyed the bikers lingering around the entrance to the bar, “Still kind of hard to see Sasuke hanging out with these people though.”

 

“Show some respect, moron. These aren’t just random bikers. This is his family. They aren’t called ‘The Uchiha MC’ because anyone can join,” she scolded immediately, shooting a glare at her companion as their driver came to a stop.

 

“I guess…” he muttered as she turned to face their driver.

 

“Thank you for the ride,” she thanked with a smile, taking in their drivers nervous expression. Before she could open the car door and step out, the young man piped up.

 

“Are you, uh…” Their driver opened and closed his mouth a couple times as if searching for the proper wording to express his obvious concern at the dainty pink haired woman in a sundress and the goofy blond in loungewear heading into the intimidating biker bar alone.

 

The hard look he received from Sakura was enough to halt their driver's line of thinking. After years of being underestimated and after all she had done to improve herself, the last thing she was going to put up with was their fucking Uber driver treating her like she was too delicate to go into a damn bar.

 

The driver broke eye contact with her to glance at the group of Uchiha MC members warily eyeing the sage green prius that was lingering outside of their bar. “Er, nevermind. Have a nice night.”

 

“Thanks, you to,” Sakura replied sharply with a now forced smile as she popped open the door and stepped out.

 

Naruto soon followed and, quicker than she expected, their driver reversed out of the dirt lot and took off to his next ride. They both turned away from the retreating car to face the bar, Naruto shoving his hands into the pockets of his orange hoodie.

 

“So, where do you think Sasuke will be?” He pondered aloud as they began their walk towards the building.

 

“Wherever a prospect will be most helpful here… Probably playing gopher and getting everyone drinks,” she answered as they gave a wide berth to the row of pristine bikes lined up outside.

 

“Er, uh… What’s a prospect again?”

 

“We’ve explained this to you a dozen times…” she sighed, raising an eyebrow at Naruto who just shrugged, “It’s a trial period a person has to go through before they become a full member. He’s basically doing all the grunt work to prove himself while they decide if he gets to join.”

 

“He doesn’t get in automatically? Isn’t he family?”

 

They both nodded at the three men standing outside the bar who were staring at them as they approached. The three bikers nodded in return, obviously not seeing the two brightly colored strangers as a threat, before returning to their conversation.

 

“Well, yeah, but the way Sasuke told me, his family can be really selective. His uncles especially. And you know how Fugaku is about the club… So be on your best behavior!” she commanded as they paused outside of the double doors leading inside the bar.

 

“Have some faith, Sakura! I’m only going to harass Sasuke a little bit.” Naruto grinned foxily, rocking on his heels.

 

“Just don’t get us, or him, in trouble! This is the first time he’s invited us to meet his entire family, not just his parents and Itachi. He kept us hidden away from the rest all the years we’ve known him so this is a huge deal. We need to make a good impression!” she hissed, glaring at him pointedly.

 

Naruto held up his hands in surrender. “Okay, okay, I’m on my best behavior. No need to bite my head off…”

 

She stared him down for a few long moments before huffing and turning towards the bar. As she reached out to grasp the handle on one of the double doors, she turned back to eye Naruto pointedly.

 

“Best. Behavior,” she reminded as she dragged open the heavy wooden door, releasing the smell of cigarettes and booze and the sound of rock music into the crisp night air.

 

As they passed the threshold of the door and entered the dimly lit bar, Sakura’s eyes skimmed across the wide open room.

 

The room was thick with the smoke, giving an almost dream-like haze to the dimly, but warmly, lit bar. Pilfered road signs decorated the walls alongside paintings of motorcycles, cars, and pinup girls.

 

Rock music played on a stereo with speakers perched on the roof above a long wooden bar. Two bartenders worked behind the bar, one a gruff older man and the other an androgynous individual around her age. The various bottles lining the shelves behind them nearly glowed from the lights set up behind the bar. The stools were filled with MC members and various other patrons, a couple of the members entertaining, or rather making out with, women perched on their laps.

 

A couple of pool tables were set up near one wall, both surrounded by members of the MC and a few scantily dressed women. A woman with her deep purple hair pulled up into a messy bun appeared to be beating everyone, if her smug grin and bra full of cash was anything to go by. The sound of pool cues colliding with the cue ball and balls clinking together barely overpowered the sound of music.

 

On the opposite side of the building was a patio as large as the building itself, fenced off with lattice decorated in white string lights. The open air porch offered a surprisingly beautiful view of downtown Konoha, framed by the forest surrounding the bar. Groups of people chatting loudly and smoking cigarettes, cigars, and joints occupied the old metal patio furniture outside. Raucous laughter boomed from various parts of the room as the bikers loudly conversed and jostled each other affectionately.

 

A couple of old arcade games and pinball machines were pressed up against the back wall of the bar, a few people yelling dramatically as another intently focused on slapping the buttons on the side of the machine. A man had a woman pressed up against the wall near the machines, the two nearly having sex already with how high her skirt was pulled up and how passionately they were kissing.

 

There were a few tables set up, surrounded by mismatched chairs. One of the tables, tucked away in the corner of the bar, was filled with nothing but bikers in Uchiha MC cuts. Nearly all of them held handfuls of cards and one periodically pawed at cards sitting on the table. They chatted quietly and were much more reserved that the other members in the bar.

 

It was there that she spotted Sasuke delivering a bottle of whiskey to the table with a less than pleased expression on his face.

 

Curious, her eyes flicked over the group sitting at the table. She wasn’t surprised to recognize a few people sitting at the table.

 

Sasuke’s older brother, Itachi, sat among the group, as calm and collected as always. The quiet but incredibly intelligent man was as difficult to read as always, his expression always one of careful neutrality. He appeared to be acting as the dealer, periodically reaching down to alter the cards already on the table.

 

Sakura also recognized the messy haired man who sat next to Itachi, especially with the older Uchiha’s face lit up with that megawatt smile of his. While Sakura had only met Shisui twice, his flirtatious and carefree attitude had made a lasting impression. It was tough to find an Uchiha as lighthearted as him. He was grinning widely and saying something as he accepted the bottle and glasses from a sour faced Sasuke.

 

She quickly recognized the only woman sitting at the table as being Izumi, one of Sasuke’s numerous cousins. Her long brown hair was tied up in a knot on the top of her head as she peered into her hand of cards with an expression of practiced indifferent. Sakura had met the harmonic yet indomitable woman a handful of times and admired her for being a woman who easily kept up with the rowdy men of the MC.

 

Sakura hmmed internally as her gaze landed on the other three Uchiha sitting at the table, none of whom she recognized. She couldn’t even get a hint from their cuts as the patches that designated their positions were too small to read from the distance she was at.

 

One of the strangers looked as if he had been in a terrible accident. Half of his face was horribly scarred, thick grooves cut into the tender flesh. One of his eyes, opposite the scarred side oddly enough, was concealed with a black bandana which acted as a makeshift eyepatch. Most notable, however, was his missing right arm. The arm of his black, long sleeve shirt was pinned closed where his arm now ended, halfway between his elbow and shoulder. His eyebrows were furrowed as if he were upset, but his stance suggested that his angry expression was simply his resting face.

 

The second man was older but notably handsome in an untamed kind of way. He wore a long sleeved black shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his forearms, black gloves, his cut left unzipped, dark wash denim jeans, and boots. He had hair longer than even Itachi’s which hung wildly around his face and shoulders. He had a wicked grin on his face as he laughed at something Shisui was saying to Sasuke, an expression that made her eyes shoot passed him entirely as her heart sped along.

 

The third and final stranger sitting at the table, seated next to the wild haired Uchiha, could easily be mistaken for Sasuke if it wasn’t for the long ponytail thrown over his shoulder. He was also older than herself and the Uchiha’s she knew sitting at the table, although it was tough to tell since all Uchiha’s aged with a grace that was unfair. Even still, her eyes flicked between the stranger and Sasuke, baffled by the incredible similarities.

 

It was during this perusal that Sakura caught Sasuke’s eye. She nodded to him in greeting before tilting her head towards the bar. He nodded in return and she worked on corralling Naruto towards the only two open seats left at the bar. She sat down on one of the stools, politely waving to catch the gruff male bartenders attention and to place her order.

 

She glanced back over to the table of Uchiha just in time to catch Sasuke’s smart ass grin as he said something to Shisui that immediately had the older Uchiha’s expression turn sour. Everyone at the table burst out in laughter except for Itachi, who simply smirked into his glass, and the scarred stranger, who remained dead faced and appeared, by all intents and purposes, to not give a shit.

 

She smiled as she watched Sasuke break away from the group, who all returned to their game of cards, and headed over to where her and Naruto had sat down.

 

“Hey, asshole, having fun being everyone’s lackey?” Naruto greeted with a shit eating grin as Sasuke leaned against the bar between them.

 

Sakura rolled her eyes at her boys as the bartender sat down three shot glasses and a pint of Patron in front of her. She nodded in thanks, passing the man a hundred dollar bill, before she worked on filling the glasses.

 

“More fun than flunking out of law school, loser,” Sasuke returned without missing a beat, calling out Naruto on him having dropped out of law school just that previous semester.

 

The blond had the great aspiration to become governor one day but failed miserably while pursuing what he viewed to be the fast track to the position: becoming a lawyer. Probably a good thing, when Sakura thought about it. Naruto had no patience for reading in general, let alone pouring over dead toned tomes on law of all things. How he got into law school in the first place was a mystery in and of itself.

 

She was unsure what path he would take next but, despite Sasuke’s ruthless teasing, they both believed that Naruto would accomplish his goal one day. After all, Naruto had the ability to win over anyone he met. He was a great friend and would one day be a great leader.

 

Until then...

 

Naruto gathered air into his lungs to fuel his inevitable tirade but Sakura cut him off in the nick of time by pushing a shot glass into his and Sasuke’s hands.

 

“Shut up and drink up,” she commanded, downing her shot in one gulp.

 

“Nice to see you to, Sakura,” Sasuke grumbled as he downed his shot, eyes crinkling up at the taste.

 

“Quit talking shit to Naruto,” she demanded before continuing in a much warmer tone, “And how’s it going with the club?”

 

He sighed, toying with the empty shot glass in his hands. “Well enough, I guess. I hate being everyone’s bitch though.”

 

“Hey, watch it,” Sakura scolded, glaring at him as she refilled the glass still cradled in Sasuke’s hand. She motioned to do the same for Naruto, who still held a full glass.

 

“Ugh, fine, I’m tired of being everyone’s _grunt_. It’s demeaning. I just wish they’d say yes already…” Sasuke complained as Naruto downed his remaining shot ungracefully before holding out his glass so Sakura could refill it.

 

“Oh my gods, Sakura, _tequila_? Have you lost it?” Naruto coughed with a grimace, eyeing his newly refilled glass with alarm, “I thought you wanted me on my best behavior. Nothing good ever happens when we drink tequila…”

 

“Don’t be so dramatic, it’s not that bad.” Sakura waved off Naruto’s complaints as she drank her second shot with trained ease.

 

“Lightweight,” Sasuke muttered, just loud enough for Naruto to hear.

 

“Whatever, duck ass,” the blond bit back, trying to discreetly hold his breath as he drained his shot gracelessly.

 

“So,” Sakura began, twisting in her seat so her eyes could scan across the room, “We’re here and the world hasn’t ended yet.”

 

Sasuke sighed heavily. “Yes, _yet_. You haven’t met any of them yet.”

 

“I still think you’re being overly dramatic. I mean, Itachi and Izumi are nice. Shisui’s a bit of a flirt but he’s alright. And your dad grew up with your uncles and he’s okay.”

 

“My dad isn’t in the MC, remember? And I’ve told you about my uncles and my cousin Obito. Just… be respectful,” Sasuke’s gaze shot to Naruto, “That goes for you especially, dropout.”

 

“I’m nothing but respectful! Besides, I’m sure they’re not nearly as bad as-” Naruto started before being cut off by Sakura cuffing him in the back of the head.

 

“Nothing but respectful, huh?” Sakura growled as Naruto rubbed the back of his head, defeated.

 

“So, any quick tips before we meet anyone?” she continued, turning her attention back to Sasuke.

 

“Just… If you meet Madara or Izuna, be nice. Madara can be a little, er, intense but he’s okay. He’ll want to check you both out so you’ll probably meet him tonight. Izuna is usually really calm so just don’t be rude. But Obito, he's the one with the missing arm. Just don’t stare. Or act suspicious. Or, actually, don’t even look at him. And if he comes up to you, act as nice and... submissive as possible without lying down.”

 

“Jeez, what is he, an attack dog?” Naruto muttered, eyebrows furrowed.

 

“Pretty fucking much, dumbass. For the most part, he’ll probably stare you down while he decides if you’re safe or not. If he thinks you’re questionable, he’ll come talk to you. If he thinks you’re bad company…” Sasuke eyed Naruto, his expression suggesting a deeper meaning to his next words, “We’ll probably never speak again.”

 

Naruto gulped, his lips pressing into a flat line in anxiety. Sakura just sighed, carefully pouring them another round of drinks.

 

“Understood. Sounds easy enough…” She gave Sasuke a comforting smile. “Don’t worry. We’re on our best behavior. I promise we’ll leave a good impression.”

 

Sasuke grimaced in response before throwing back his shot without another word.

 

* * *

 

Madara’s gaze followed Sasuke as his nephew took off with an unusual quickness. The young man certainly didn’t have anywhere to be in such a hurry, so his quick exit perked the elder Uchiha’s curiosity.

 

He watched as his prospect weaved between the other tables, filled to the brim with their drunken or otherwise intoxicated family members, to lean against the bar between two… brightly colored strangers.

 

His eyebrow quirked up in curiosity as he looked over the two newcomers, plucking his glass of whiskey from the table in front of him without even looking.

 

He wasn’t sure if he had ever met a person with pink hair. He had certainly never met an… admittedly attractive woman with bright pink hair, artfully pinned up in an updo, wearing a pale green sundress, and sitting at a bar filled with bikers. She looked like she belonged in a field of daisies weaving flower crowns, not perched at a bar downing shots.

 

The man sitting next to her was no less strange. With his bright blond hair and safety orange hoodie (who willingly wears that color?), he was glaringly out of place. The fact he wore black sweatpants, rolled up to his knees, and flip flops was all the more amusing.

 

The two garishly colored strangers stood out against the sea of black hair and dark clothes like a house fire in the dead of night.

 

Who on Earth were these people and what in the world were they doing hanging around Sasuke?

 

“Raise a hundred bucks,” Shisui called out, drawing Madara’s attention back to the poker game in front of him.

 

“Fold,” Obito immediately replied in his usual grouchy tone, depositing his cards on the table.

 

“Same, fold,” Izuna sighed, mimicking Obito.

 

“Call,” Madara and Izumi both spoke at the same time, their gazes meeting as they tried to dissect the others’ poker face.

 

She was unreadable, as always. One of the reasons he chose her as treasurer for the MC. Excellent with money and had a poker face that could fool a telepath.

 

Itachi, the designated dealer for the night, leaned over towards the center of the table, flipping one of the face down cards and revealing a Queen of Hearts.

 

Despite knowing that the hand he held was garbage with the cards revealed on the table, Madara’s poker face didn’t fail. He instead turned away from the game, taking a disinterested sip from his whiskey, as his gaze returned to the strangers socializing with Sasuke.

 

He watched as the pink haired woman poured yet another glass of what looked like tequila for Sasuke and the blond and soon quirked an eyebrow at how skillfully she downed her own shot. Obviously a trained drinker… or an alcoholic.

 

Something that drew his attention more than anything else, however, was how relaxed Sasuke was and how easily he spoke with them. They were obviously old friends with his reclusive nephew if he was so comfortable with them.

 

Although he may affectionately refer to the brat Sasuke as his nephew, he wasn’t. But he called him such anyways out of respect and love for the boy’s father and Madara’s adopted brother, Fugaku.

 

Fugaku’s parents, and Madara’s aunt and uncle, had been killed in a gunfight between the Uchiha MC and the Senju MC. The president of the Uchiha MC at the time, Madara’s father Tajima, had immediately taken over custody of his dead sister’s only child.

 

Even though Madara and Izuna had already been nine and eight years old and Fugaku had been a gangly and jaded thirteen year old, and even though Fugaku understandably chose to stay out of the biker life, Madara still considered his cousin to be a brother. Madara even considered Fugaku’s sons Itachi, the current secretary for the MC, and Sasuke, the club’s cute little prospect, his nephews.

 

Sasuke and Itachi had grown up with their ‘uncles’ protectively lingering around and with a massive MC comprised of nearly their entire family looking out for them. The two young Uchiha had been special, the children of an Uchiha orphan and the nephews of the president and vice president of the club.

 

How had these two strangers gotten under his radar then? Had Sasuke hidden them from the rest of his family? Who were they? How did they know Sasuke? What were they doing here, in a bar filled to the brim with bikers?

 

While they looked positively harmless, looks could be deceiving. Were they safe to have around, so close to all of his precious family members?

 

Obito’s low voice next to his ear was to be expected, his sergeant at arms having noticed Madara’s intent staring.

 

“Should I take care of them?”

 

“No,” Madara replied, not taking his eyes off of the strangers. “Just keep an eye on them for now.”

 

The scarred Uchiha nodded wordlessly, his observant gaze flicking across the room. Always watching, always aware.

 

It was to be expected after the accident that nearly took his life. The accident that crippled both him and his childhood friend. That robbed the young Uchiha of his right arm, his right leg, and his left eye. That put his teenage love interest in a coma from which she never awakened. After all, if he had been paying more attention while driving that night, Obito would say when drunk enough, they wouldn’t have gotten in that car accident.

 

Madara didn’t have the heart to tell him that that accident had been his fault. That it had been him that hadn’t been paying enough attention when the teenaged Obito and his friends had left the clubhouse that day all those years ago. If the elder Uchiha had, he would have noticed the truck lying in wait across the street and the Senju prospect within, eager to earn their way into the Senju MC. The one desperate enough to lose their life trying to prove themselves. The one that sparked a decade long bloodbath between the clubs.

 

But Madara hadn’t, too caught up in the thrill of finally becoming a patch holder, of finally proving himself to his stoic father and the then president of the club, to notice.

 

As his way of trying to atone for his mistakes, the wild haired Uchiha had taken the broken boy under his wing. He taught him how to ride a motorcycle, even with his missing limbs. It had been easy with the prosthetic strapped to Obito’s leg and enough mechanical knowhow on Madara’s behalf to rig the front brake lever and the throttle onto the left handlebar. He showed him that he could still live as full a life as any other, despite his partial blindness and missing limbs. He helped him become a full member of the club and, when Madara himself was elected as the new president, he chose Obito as his sergeant at arms. His left hand with Izuna being his right.

 

However, the trait that Madara passed on to Obito that stuck the most, and the one he often wished hadn’t, was ruthlessness.

 

Madara sometimes wished that Obito had learned to enjoy every day he spent alive instead of the most effective ways for ending another’s life with a buck knife. The poor sap was an excellent sergeant at arms but a miserable companion.

 

Which he proved once again by nudging his untouched glass of whiskey towards Shisui. Their road captain happily scooped up the full glass, toasting Obito, before taking a deep sip. Obito simply rolled his eyes and folded his arm across his chest in response, his aggressive gaze not so subtly setting on the brightly colored strangers.

 

“Hmm…” Izumi sighed, feigning boredom, “Re-raise another hundred.”

 

Madara’s eyes narrowed. She had a good hand.

 

“Call,” Madara and Shisui both replied.

 

“That is Sakura Haruno and Naruto Uzumaki,” Itachi began, unprovoked, as he flipped another card on the table, “They’ve been friends with Sasuke since they were kids. No one to worry about, _Obito_.”

 

Itachi’s gaze flashed to meet Obito’s, the younger Uchiha’s face decidedly blank but the warning clear in his bright eyes. Obito simply quirked an eyebrow in response, unimpressed and unmoved.

 

“And I’ve never been introduced?” Madara questioned, leaning back in his chair casually as he took another sip of whiskey, “Re-raise a hundred.”

 

Itachi shrugged. “I suppose they were just never around when you were.”

 

Madara’s eyes narrowed over his glass. Itachi was lying.

 

Shisui cleared his throat.

 

“Call,” he mumbled, nibbling on his lower lip as his eyes flicked between the others at the table, aware of the silent tension.

 

Madara’s sharp gaze flicked to his road captain. Even Shisui was keeping something from him.

 

“Call. There’s no need to worry about them, P. Naruto is a bit, er… special… and Sakura has quite a temper, but they’re incredibly loyal to Sasuke and thus our family,” Izumi explained simply, smiling as she easily dispelled the rising tensions at the table.

 

Madara hummed in thought as Itachi flipped the final card sitting on the table.

 

“Reraise two hundred,” Izumi called out, just a touch too fast for Madara’s taste.

 

“Pfft, call,” Shisui immediately replied, assuming Izumi was bluffing.

 

The Uchiha MC’s president’s gaze returned to the three sitting at the bar. Itachi and Izumi seemed to hold the two strangers in high esteem. They must have met them both, more than likely multiple times, for them to have such an opinion. Shisui, Itachi, and Izumi were all attached at the hip as well, so that means Shisui had met them as well and didn’t bother saying anything. Strange, considering the road captain was such a talkative extrovert.

 

As to why he himself hadn’t met the two newcomers yet though, he could only come to one conclusion: Sasuke had hidden these two from the rest of the MC. From him, Izuna, and Obito specifically, it seemed.

 

A slow, wolfish grin spread across his lips. Perhaps he should get better acquainted with Sasuke’s little friends then, find out for himself if they were good to have around. After all… he was Sasuke’s uncle.

 

When he turned back to face the group, all eyes were on him.

 

“I suppose I’ll have to introduce myself then,” he decided, ignoring the grimace from Itachi as he stood, fishing a few hundred dollar bills from his wallet and dropping both them and his cards onto the table, “Fold. Izumi wins this round.”

 

He downed the rest of his glass of whiskey easily, the alcohol’s burn hardly registering, before he deposited the empty glass on the table as well.

 

“Bullshit, show me,” Shisui hissed, revealing his hand. Full house.

 

Izumi’s smile was as smug as they come as she revealed her cards as well. A royal flush.

 

“Are you shitting me?” the messy haired Uchiha groaned as Izumi laughed aloud, piling up her winnings as Itachi gathered the cards and began another game.

 

Madara’s near predatory grin remained as he made his way across the room, towards the strangers and his nephew. Other members of the MC parted in front of him out of respect, some patting him on the arm or shoulder affectionately and drunkenly. He replied with a brotherly pat in return, eyes flashing over to meet his family member’s eyes briefly before returning to his goal.

 

He wondered how he should make his entrance. Lean against the bar next to the blond and see what the stranger’s first reaction to him would be? See if the man knew respect or at least had enough common sense to check Madara’s cut to determine his position?

 

Or perhaps he would toss an arm over Sasuke’s shoulders and ask directly who his friends were?

 

He could even push his way between Sasuke and the unknown woman and ask her how her night was going, ignoring his nephew entirely. That would really piss him off and would get both the men going. A good opportunity to see if the blond had any sense, to harass his nephew, and to flirt with a lovely woman. A win any way he looked at it, really.

 

‘ _That decides it then_ ,” he thought, just a few footsteps away from making himself at home next to the strange woman.

 

His plan was suddenly cut off by a sense of foreboding. He could feel dread build in his chest and his hackles rise before he felt the rumbling from far too many motorcycles making their appearance outside. So many that the sounds of their engines overpowered the rock music that flooded the bar.

 

His gaze shot to the door, his eyes narrowing in rage and his hand reaching under the back of his shirt to check the pistol hidden in the waistband of his jeans, moments before Kagami made his dramatic entrance.

 

Nearly kicking down the door in his hurry to make it inside, and with the other two MC members Madara had posted outside as lookouts hot on the younger Uchiha’s tail, Kagami yelled out, “Senju’s are here!”

 

The bar erupted into chaos in a heartbeat, Uchiha all shooting to their feet and fishing out their weapons. The patrons of the bar that weren’t members of the MC panicked, adding to the sudden mayhem.

 

The only ones who remained calm were Anko, who made a quick exit with her pool winnings, the bartenders Zabuza and Haku, who readied their own weapons in preparation for defending their bar, and the two newcomers, who shot to their feet in alarm but didn’t run.

 

Realizing how many of his family members could wind up in the line of fire, Madara’s hand retreated from his pistol. He wouldn’t put any of his family in mortal danger, even if it meant killing a few of these Senju bastards.

 

Instead, he confidently strode towards the opening double doors, wild eyes searching for his mortal enemy in the horde of Senju MC members rushing into the bar.

 

It took no time at all for him to spot his prey, the towering brunet leading the charge of bikers into the bar.

 

Madara wasted no time bum rushing the man, roaring his name like a battle cry, “Hashiramaaa!”

 

Hashirama’s eyes shot to Madara immediately, the president of the Senju MC meeting the Uchiha’s charge head on as he roared, “Madaraaa!”

 

They collided with a rush of fists, beginning their hundredth fight with the same passion and malice as the first.

 

“You should stay in your own territory, Madara! We had an agreement!” The Senju growled as the two presidents traded blows, their attacks just as powerful and painful as ever.

 

“Our agreement means nothing if you choose to trample on it by sending your bastard brother to rob our warehouses!” Madara returned heatedly, fury and adrenaline sweeping over him in equal doses.

 

“That’s a lie!” Hashirama ducked under what would have been a particularly painful punch from Madara and tackling the Uchiha into one of the tables, laying punches into his ribcage all the while.

 

The Uchiha landed an elbow onto the brunet’s exposed shoulder, drawing a grunt of pain from his opponent as he briefly stunned him. The ebony haired male used the opportunity to kick Hashirama out from underneath his guard and lay a punch across his cheek that forced him farther backwards.

 

“We have security footage proving it! If you truly wanted peace, you wouldn’t be pulling this underhanded bullshit!” Madara hissed, closing the distance between them and once again starting their fist fight.

 

Neither got in a word edgewise afterwards, instead focusing all their attention and energy on laying the other out.

 

While they fought, Madara’s eyes flicked across the bar, checking on his family members who were taking part in the combat.

 

Izuna was battling Tobirama, something which did nothing to surprise Madara. His younger brother hated the white haired man with a passion that would prove to be the death of one of them one of these days.

 

Itachi, the kind soul he was, was working on evacuating the non MC bar patrons, escorting them out the side door and getting them out of harm's way.

 

The rest of his officers, Obito, Shisui, and Izumi, were already deep into their own fights.

 

Obito, buck knife drawn and already splashed with blood, contended with three Senju’s all on his own. Even though they outnumbered the one armed Uchiha, they all looked more terrified than anything else. Not surprising, with the bloodlust in Obito’s one functioning eye.

 

Shisui brawled with a Senju nearly double his size, making up for the difference in weight with the pair of brass knuckles clutched in his hands.

 

Izumi, handling herself even better than all the rest of them, towered over the unconscious bodies of two Senju. She wielded a crowbar that she had materialized from somewhere, keeping an unsurprisingly alarmed Senju at arm's length with calculated swings.

 

When Madara’s gaze finally found Sasuke, it was just in time to watch as he got nailed across the back with a baseball bat, violently knocking him to the ground.

 

The wild haired Uchiha grimaced in sympathetic pain and in rage at the sight of his nephew being harmed in such a way. Fugaku was going to be pissed. He needed to finish up this fight with Hashirama quickly so he could get to Sasuke’s aid.

 

After trading another blow with his opponent, his gaze was immediately drawn back to his nephew by an unfamiliar and feminine voice roaring, “Don’t you touch him, you son of a bitch!”

 

Still having to focus on his fight with Hashirama, Madara’s attention was divided. However, he was able to catch the sight of the strange pink haired woman laying a right hook into the face of the Senju who hit Sasuke. The man dropped his bat as he fell to the floor like a sack of hammers, unconscious.

 

Madara had enough time to be amazed and enough time to block a blow from Hashirama before he watched the woman heft up a barstool and whip it at another Senju like she had been created in a government lab for the sole purpose of knocking people unconscious with furniture.

 

‘ _Holy shit_ ,’ his stunned mind produced immediately before his full focus returned to his own fight, ‘ _Izumi wasn’t kidding about her having a temper. At least Sasuke is in good hands.’_

 

The battle royale continued for some time before being suddenly interrupted by the sound of police sirens outside.

 

Madara shoulder checked Hashirama into a chair, knocking him to the ground, while the brunet was distracted. He placed two fingers against his own lips, letting loose a piercing whistle that overpowered the chaos of the fighting and the whine of the police sirens outside. The rest of his MC, getting the message from his high pitched call, scattered and made their way towards the various exits, abandoning their fights.

 

The Senju did the very same, although most made a run towards the front doors along side a few Uchiha in a brief moment of armistice, intent on retrieving their bikes before the cops got ahold of them. Neither side was scared to fight the cops and neither side was frightened of prison but neither side was willing to lose their bikes to the pigs.

 

Madara lingered behind for a moment, making sure that the rest of his family escaped. It was then, as his eyes flicked across the bar to see if anyone had been left behind, that he spotted Izuna and Tobirama still duking it out, neither one of them phased by the appearance of the police. It was obvious they would continue to fight until they got arrested.

 

The Uchiha MC’s president jolted forward, grabbing his brother by the neck of his cut and dragging him towards the back door, breaking apart his fight with Tobirama. When he kicked open the door, the sudden rush of clean, crisp air into Madara’s lungs was like a drug, adding to the high of the adrenaline pumping through his veins.

 

Madara shoved his brother towards his bike, Izuna stumbling but not falling as the elder Uchiha mounted his own iron horse.

 

“I had him, you asshole!” Izuna yelled, straddling his own bike.

 

“What you had was a second strike, you fucking idiot! Get home!” Madara screamed back, kicking up the kickstand as he prepared to follow Izuna.

 

He noted Itachi and Shisui lingering in the darkness of the lot, both having remained behind to make sure their president and vice president didn’t get arrested.

 

He turned the key to his bike, the engine roaring to life and bringing with it another rush of excitement. As his bike purred beneath him, the vibrations of the idling engine promising the speed that was to come, he caught sight of the blond stranger from before.

 

He watched in baffled amusement as the six foot blond sprinted across the dirt lot behind the bar and leapt over the back fence like a fucking show horse only to face plant into the dirt. Madara cackled loudly as the stranger hopped up and sprinted off into the darkness, the sound of his flip flops slapping his heels audible even over Madara’s bike.

 

That dumbass was getting arrested tonight for sure.

 

Just as his hand settled on the throttle to take off into the night, the feeling of someone leaping onto the back of his bike startled him. He whipped around with the intention of elbowing the cop dumb enough to get on his bike but was shocked to see the pink haired sundress girl perched on the back of his bike.

 

Her eyes, pupils blown out from the excitement of the fight and the chase, met his in alarm as she yelled over the sound of his engine, “What are you waiting for!? Go!”

 

Before he had time to make a decision on this strange girl hitching a ride on the back of his bike, he spotted two cops stumble out of the door they had exited from and make eye contact with him.

 

Madara barely heard the cries of “Freeze!” as he twisted the throttle on his bike and rocketed out of the lot with a spray of dirt and the screaming of his engine.

 

As he flew out of the lot and onto paved road, his bike got the traction it needed to pick up speed. As he was familiar with the darkened mountain paths that lead towards the secluded bar they had been at, he brought his bike well above triple the speed limit in seconds.

 

He could see red and blue lights in his mirrors as he flew down the dark road, chasing after the running lights of his brothers ahead of him. The sound of the sirens was inconsequential against the sound of the engine of his bike.

 

As they reached a fork in the road, he watched as some of the MC members bolted down either side. The wild haired male chose the path that would lead to the freeway, reaching the entrance in record time. He flew around cars stopped at the stoplight leading to the entrance to the freeway, bolting onto the ramp and rocketing onto the six lane highway. He weaved between vehicles easily, finally able to really let loose on the flat ground and recently repaved highway.

 

His foot pulled up on the shifter, the engine screaming and then calming as he went through each gear in seconds. He didn’t even have to look down at his speedometer to know he was easily going over a hundred and twenty miles per hour, the feeling of speed familiar enough to gauge how fast he was going instinctually.

 

His eyes squinted against the blast of hundred mile per hour air as his mind focused on plotting a course between the cars that appeared to be parked on the freeway with how fast he was riding.

 

The strange woman clung to him as they flew down the freeway, them easily outrunning the cops that trailed behind them. Her dainty arms were wrapped tightly around him, one of her hands clutching what appeared to be a tiny purse. Her other hand fisted in his shirt at his side. Her fingernails scratched against his already hypersensitive skin, nearly distracting him from the road.

 

Madara could feel the tight muscles in the woman’s thighs as her legs cradled his own. Her chest was pressed flat against his back, her sitting as close to him as she possibly could. Her head was pressed between his shoulder blades and beneath his hair which he knew flew out behind him at these high speeds. He knew that she could feel his gun pressed against her stomach with how she was pressed against him and hoped she remained as calm as she was.

 

She could easily kill them both with a wrong move at these speeds.

 

The adrenaline pumping through his veins, the rush of outrunning the cops and nearly topping the speedometer on his bike, and the feeling of this beautiful warrior woman clinging to his body was a deadly combination. He wondered if she could feel his heart pounding with her hands on his chest.

 

Once he got out of the sight of the police in pursuit of him, he took the next exit. He flew onto the backroads, traveling up a deserted and wooded hill towards where he knew a safe house was tucked away. He couldn’t take the strange woman he had picked up after a bar brawl home after all but he figured that if she was down to get into a fist fight with bikers than she would probably be okay with laying low for a little bit.

 

Passed that and escaping the cops, he had no plans.

 

Madara slowed down and came to a stop at the top of a hill which overlooked the freeway. He flipped off the lights and turned off the engine, his eyes flicking across the brightly lit freeway, searching for the police.

 

The sudden silence after hearing nothing but the roar of his engine and the wind for the chase was nearly deafening. It took a moment for his ears to pick up the sound of crickets and the distant wail of sirens.

 

He could still hear the cops but he couldn’t see them. If their radio had gotten ahead of him and they discovered he had gotten off the freeway, he would have to take off again and quickly.

 

When the Uchiha finally saw the cops, flying down the freeway towards where they thoughts he was, he huffed out a laugh and grinned rakishly. He had gotten away yet again.

 

His heart was still racing in his chest and he drew air into his lungs in short, heavy bursts. He felt like laughing aloud. He lived for nights like these! He felt like he was really _alive_ , his blood singing in his veins from the fight and from the thrilling police chase!

 

‘ _Oh, but I have a passenger, don’t I?_ ’ He realized suddenly as the woman’s hand unfisted from his shirt, skimming along his side almost sensually as she pulled away from him.

 

Feet still flat on the ground, he turned to face her, his heart still pounding in his chest. His eyes ran across her form, taking her in.

 

Her chest was heaving, her petite breasts rising and falling with her rapid breaths. Her sundress was splattered with blood and her knuckles were bruised, ruining her innocent image. The skirt of her dress nearly hung around her waist, the wind from the ride having dragged it up and giving him a glimpse of her now revealed panties. Her hair, once artfully pinned up, was now wild from the fight and from the ride.

 

She was violently beautiful, like a valkyrie come down from Valhalla itself.

 

He parted his lips to speak but before he could say a word, she surged forward and kissed him.

 

His final thought before he gave into her and the rush wasn’t even a coherent sentence but rather an animalistic noise of approval and desire.

 

Madara responded immediately, meeting the woman’s near frenzied kisses with equal fervor. Her hands grasped at the sleeves on his shirt and the leg of his pants as she leaned over to get closer to him. He became frustrated with the odd angle quickly, deciding without thought that she needed to be closer to him.

 

Without breaking their heated kiss, he turned as far as he could and slipped his hand beneath her thighs. She happily followed his movements, already anticipating what they both wanted, as he easily lifted her slight form and deposited her onto his lap.

 

Her arms wrapped around his neck instinctively, stabilizing herself and pressing herself against him. Her skirts pulled up even higher, exposing her even more, as her legs spread to accommodate him at the apex of her thighs.

 

With their kiss now unhindered, their lips moved against one another's easily and passionately. He could taste the fruity sweetness of her chapstick although it was nearly overpowered by the lingering taste of tequila.

 

In a show of initiative that excited him, she ran her tongue across his lower lip. Not one to be outdone, he nipped the tip of her tongue playfully. He smirked at her surprised gasp, his gloved hands sliding up her thighs and across her exposed rear as her fingernails dug into the leather of his cut.

 

Her parted lips returned to his, the pink haired woman nearly purring in satisfaction as the Uchiha’s tongue pressed between her lips. As their kiss escalated, tongues sliding against one another, his hands continued their wandering. Even with his gloves on, he could feel the curve of her rear and the dip of her waist. One of his hands retreated downwards to her ass, tugging her farther into his lap and flush against his pelvis, while the other continued its exploration upwards.

 

When his hand finally settled on her breast, she ground herself against his growing erection. He hummed in pleasure against her mouth, rewarding her with a bite to her lip and a returning grind against her core which drew a moan from her lips.

 

Without breaking their heated kiss, he leaned down to pin her against the gas tank of his bike. He felt as her legs splayed open even farther for him, her muscled thighs sliding against his ribcage. Her dainty hands clung to him and the handlebar of his bike for balance. His hands reached down to roughly drag up her skirts as he kissed her harder, her legs tightening around his waist and pulling him against her core. He ground down against her, drawing a breathy gasp from her, before breaking their kiss to sit up.

 

As Madara undid the buckle to his belt and zipped down his jeans to free his length, she reached down between them to roughly tug her lacy panties off to one side, stretching out the elastic and revealing her glistening entrance.

 

Now freed, he grabbed onto her hips with both gloved hands and ground his pulsing length against her folds. His cock twitched in arousal as he felt how wet she was already and how her slickness easily coated the underside of his shaft. Her nearly pained sounding moans as he rubbed against her clit, how she arched against him, seeking more friction against her sensitive nub, and how her fingernails dug into his forearms filled him with even more need.

 

Unwilling to hold back any longer, he aligned himself with her sopping entrance and sheathed himself within her in one long thrust. He let out a shuddering breath as a broken groan left her lips. He marveled at the feeling of her incredibly tight passage squeezing him as her toned legs wrapped around his waist once again.

 

The Uchiha pulled out of her slowly, nearly removing himself entirely, before filling her once again with a smooth, deep thrust. The gasp of pleasure that came from her drew him back down to her where he kissed her roughly.

 

His partner responded immediately, kissing him back with equal passion as she canted her hips to better accept his quickening thrusts. His fingers dug into the sensitive skin of her hips, holding her down against his bike as he set a faster pace. Her fingernails clawed at his back and shoulders as she hung onto him, undoubtedly leaving crescent shaped marks on his cut and skin.

 

Finding it difficult to truly focus on the woman beneath him while having to keep his bike steady, he broke their kiss to sit up once again. With his feet still flat against the ground, keeping his bike upright, and in this new position, he was able to give her his full attention.

 

His hands still gripping her hips, he pulled her closer to him and into a better position for him to set a maddening pace. He tilted his hips so that he would press against her clit with each thrust, pleasuring her further. As she groaned under his assault, her hands gripping his thigh and the handlebars of his bike to steady herself, one of his hands drifted upwards.

 

Without altering his pace, the wild haired man deftly flicked the straps of her dress off of her shoulders so he could pull down her dress, exposing her dainty breasts. He watched as her breasts jolted with his hard thrusts, arousal growing even farther. His gloved hands cupped one of her supple globes, squeezing, before pulling back to pinch her rosy nipple.

 

She moaned out in pleasure, arching her spine so she could meet his thrusts as well as press her breast into his wandering hand. He marveled at how stunningly sexy she was, taking his thrusts and wandering hands and searching for more.

 

She surprised him when she grabbed onto his shoulder with one hand, using him as a lever to pull herself high up into his lap. Her arms wrapped around his neck, his hands immediately grasping her rear to steady her. Her feet searched for purchase on his bike and, once she found it, she wasted no time in beginning to ride him.

 

He groaned low in his throat as she bounced in his lap, grinding herself against his hips with each downward thrust. As she used his body to find her own release, the fingertips of one of his hands hooked around her panties and pulled them even farther to the side.

 

She continued to ride him roughly, her grasp on his shoulders tightening as her moans turned into breathy gasps of ecstasy.

 

Incredibly turned on by her taking control, Madara rewarded her by sinking his teeth into her exposed neck. She cried out in a mix of pleasure and pain, her pace faltering for a moment before resuming even quicker. He roughly sucked on the bite mark he had left, drawing a bruise to the surface, before soothing the wound with his tongue. Her hand fisted in his hair, holding his mouth to her throat and drawing a groan from him as she tugged at his locks.

 

Taking the hint, he moved farther down her neck and repeated the same treatment, drawing a ragged groan from the woman fucking him.

 

He hoped to god that she’d remember him by the bruises he was leaving on her because sweet lord this woman was a goddess. He needed to do something to make this woman his, even if it was just marking her.

 

Madara felt as she neared her finish, her walls tightening around him. She cried out in bliss as she came around him, her pace faltering. Her walls fluttered around his swollen member, drawing a groan of pleasure from him as well. She continued to ride him, her suddenly dripping wet opening nearly sucking him in with its spasming. His gloved fingers dug into her ass as he met her bouncing with his own jostling thrusts, each slam of his pelvis against hers drawing a moan from her.

 

Feeling his own orgasm coming with the tightening in his stomach, he pulled her roughly onto him in one final, deep thrust. Pressed as far into her heat as he could get in this position, he moaned deep in his chest and emptied himself into her clenching passage. He rocked his hips against her as he finished filling her, drawing little gasps from her as he teased her clit.

 

She immediately sagged against him, panting in his ear. He released his rough grip on her ass, instead gently cradling her as he to panted against her neck.

 

Just the thought of her, still penetrated by him and filled with his cum after having ridden him to completion on his bike was enough to send the blood right back to his member. He could feel himself hardening again, still pressed deeply within her folds, and knew he simply had to have her again.

 

But...

 

Madara adjusted her in his arms so he could pull out of her slowly, not wanting to screw her in this wide open road again. She whimpered in pleasure as he slowly slid out, nearly convincing him to slam back into her again.

  
"Your name?" He panted against her neck, rocking his hips against her so she could feel his once again hardening erection against her clit.

  
"S-ah!” She moaned in surprise, twisting her hips to find her pleasure, “Sakura..."  
  
"Sakura, hmm...? You're coming with me," he decided, grinding himself against her more roughly. He could feel her wetness dripping onto his member and had to restrain himself from abandoning his inhibitions and fucking her again right then and there.

 

Instead, he tugged her lacy underwear back into place, or at least as well as he could. He adjusted in his seat, bringing them both forward so he could get back into a decent riding position. He blinked a few times, finally coming back to his senses and the deserted road around him.

  
"What-mmmnn okay…” Sakura breathed against his neck before asking, “What's your name?"  


“Madara,” he answered simply, hand already turning the key to his bike. He knew of a safehouse just down this road that he planned on spending the rest of the night fucking this woman at.

 

He barely caught her gasp, as if she had recognized his name, before the roar of his bike drowned out all other sounds. He briefly wondered if she knew who he was before his pondering was cut short by her wandering hand drifting down his chest.

 

Madara would find out later, he decided as he turned the throttle much more softly than when their ride earlier began. He walked his bike forward as he slowly picked up speed before finally pulling his feet up when going fast enough for the bike to remain steady.

 

One of Sakura’s arms wrapped around his neck to stabilize herself, her knees pulling up around his ribs to keep her feet away from the rear tire. Despite her cautiousness, however, one hand continued its exploration of his chest. Her wandering hand snuck up the front of his shirt, her deceivingly delicate looking fingers skimming across the hard plane of muscles of his chest and stomach.

 

He shivered as her fingertips traced the outlines of the muscles of his stomach and nearly groaned when her warm, soft mouth started to lavish attention onto his neck.

 

The Uchiha hit the throttle a little harder, determined to bring them to their destination faster. When the darkened outline of the familiar warehouse finally appeared, he nearly cheered. Finally, closer to once again joining with this minx of a woman teasing him.

 

He pulled up underneath the tree line surrounding the warehouse on three sides, just in case the police bothered to send out a helicopter to chase the outlaws down. The last thing he needed was to not only get arrested again but to get one of the MC’s safe houses taken.

 

He shut off his bike and forced down the kickstand with his foot before wrapping her arms underneath Sakura’s rear. He stood from his seat on his bike, easily lifting her as well. Her legs wrapped around his waist automatically, her exploring hand returning to find purchase around his shoulders. As he carried her towards one of the side doors leading into the warehouse, his boots crunching against the gravel beneath his feet, her kisses and nips against his neck didn’t cease.

 

When Madara reached the door, he pressed Sakura against it, grinding himself roughly against her core for her teasing. She gasped, pulling away from his neck and giving him the opportunity to press their lips together again. As he kissed her roughly, tongues immediately meeting once again, his frazzled brain attempted to remember the code to open the electric lock on the door.

  
His hand pawed at the buttons on the lock, his brain uselessly cycling through the hundreds of passcodes the MC used.

 

East side, outskirts of Konoha. Began with a three. Got this warehouse in July, second number… six? No, seven. Person who found it for the MC was Obito so third number was…

 

Sakura bit his bottom lip, his thoughts blanking like someone pulled the plug on his mind.

 

When he came back to himself, his first thought was, ‘ _Fuck, why did they lock anything?_ ’

 

Okay, it had to be… Three six… three four.

 

The jarring sound of an incorrect code buzzed at him.

 

Three _seven_ three four...

 

Incorrect beep. Goddamnit.

 

Sakura tightened her legs around his waist, rubbing herself against his already hard member. He sighed against her mouth, pinning her roughly against the door with his hips and grinding himself against her heat.

 

Fucking three seven four four.

 

The lock on the door chirped at him, flashing green, before the sound of the door unlocking followed.

 

Even with the door now unlocked, it took a moment for Madara to gather the desire to open it. Grinding against and kissing this woman against it seemed like such a good plan, especially with her clawing at him and moaning like she was doing.

 

The fantasy of ripping off all of her clothes and fucking her on a couch finally pooled his determination. He hooked an arm underneath her once again, hoisting her into his arms, as his free hand popped open the door. After carrying her inside, he kicked it shut behind him, hoping that the door locked itself. After all, he’d hate to get arrested for some woman but, sweet lord, it just might be worth it with what she was doing to him.

 

As the raven haired man walked through the wide open warehouse, the automatic lights flicked on, illuminating hundreds of motorcycles in various stages of disarray. Some were nothing but a frame, surrounded by boxes of parts, some were fully pieced together and road ready, while others sat somewhere in the middle.

 

He passed right by them all, intent on reaching the office on the other side of the building. He internally thanked whatever gods pitied him that there wasn’t a lock on this door as he pushed it open with his foot. He didn’t bother with the lights in the office, the ambient lighting from the floodlights in the warehouse illuminating this room just fine.

 

Finally reaching his destination, a large black leather couch, he dropped to his knees on one of the cushions and deposited her onto the length of the couch. She did a little bounce, her exposed breasts bouncing with her.

 

“Hey!” Sakura growled at him, her expression irate as she glared up at him cutely.

 

Madara just smirked in response, his eyes dragging across her from top to bottom as he admired her sex tossled form. Her lips were kiss swollen and her eyes were wild. She had a couple wicked looking bruises decorating her neck, given to her by his teeth and mouth. Her dress was tangled around her waist, covering nothing. Her soaking wet panties, the elastic stretched out and nearly useless, barely covered her core.

 

He wanted to see more of her.

 

Still smirking, he leaned down to cage her against the couch with his arms. He kissed her roughly, her responding equally in turn. Her hands drifted underneath his shirt once again, her palms smoothing up the plane of muscle before she dragged her fingernails down his skin. He shivered, his member twitching, and bit her lower lip.

 

He sat up, drawing a dissatisfied whine from his partner, before commanding, “Flip over.”

 

Sakura happily followed his instruction, flipping around while twisting her hips sensually for him. His gloved hands smoothed across her exposed ass and up her sides, slipping underneath her tangled dress and pulling it towards her neck. She grasped the edges of the cloth, pulling it the rest of the way off and dropping it onto the floor, immediately forgotten.

 

He reached underneath her to squeeze her breasts as a reward, pinching and rolling her nipples with his gloved fingertips. She moaned as he tweaked her sensitive nubs, rubbing her barely clothed opening against his erection. He pulled back, hands dragging across her bare skin. One hand settled between her shoulder blades, gently pressing her chest against the cushions, as the other settled against her hips, lifting her ass into the air. She obeyed with a quiet groan, spreading her knees farther as well.

 

He pulled away from her, fingertips slipping under the waistband of her cum soaked panties. He pulled them down her thighs, her lifting her knees so he could pull them off of her. He tossed the strip of stretched out cloth behind him, his eyes glued onto her exposed openings.

 

One gloved hand settled onto her ass cheek to spread her wider as he took her in. The sight of her deep pink labia and her glossy wet, sex swollen opening dripping his milky cum made his cock twitch in pleasure. Her hairless asshole promised even greater pleasures in the future, his thumb brushing across her tight, untouched hole teasingly. She gasped breathily in response, her hips tilting up towards him.

 

Madara brought his hand to his mouth so he could rip off his glove with his teeth. He dropped it, not caring where it landed.

 

His bare hand reached for Sakura’s cum soaked entrance, his now bare fingers rubbing slow circles around her swollen clit. She whimpered, her hips shaking as she spread her legs wider for him.

 

As he watched his seed seep out of her reddened entrance, her passage twitching from the pleasure he was giving her, he briefly thought he should have used protection. Too late now. Might as well enjoy it.

 

He slipped two fingers into her, his digits easily sliding into her soaking hole. She keened in pleasure, her walls rhythmically squeezing his fingers, as he thrust in and out of her. Wanting to feel her around his member instead of around his fingertips, he slipped his fingers out of her, a trail of glossy cum connecting them.

 

He rubbed his slick fingers around the head of his pulsing length, preparing himself for her this time. He grasped himself in one hand, using the head of his member to tease her clit. She rocked her hips against him, rubbing herself against his hardness.

 

“Ah-ah,” the Uchiha scolded, pulling away from her with a grin and drawing a low cry from her throat.

 

“Ahh, don’t tease me,” she whined, presenting herself to him.

 

He teased Sakura's opening by slowly dipping just the head of his length into her. Her high keens just encouraged him, his gloved thumb rubbing her tight rear opening as he thrust just a little deeper into her, slowly coating his member in their fluids.

 

“Ah, gods! Just fuck me!” She demanded, her hands clenching at the cushions as she tried to press back against him.

 

“Since you asked so nicely…” he hummed, plunging into her with one smooth, long thrust.

 

She cried out in pleasure, her passage squeezing around him tightly, as he began to thrust into her roughly, grabbing onto her hips and setting a quick pace immediately. He moaned low in his throat as he sunk into her deeper than before. In this position, he could feel the head of his cock slamming against her soft inner barrier with each thrust.

 

As Madara slammed into her, he reached towards her mouth, pressing his still cum soaked fingers against her lips. She opened her lips immediately, accepting his digits into her mouth and laving them with her tongue. He hissed in pleasure, his still gloved hand reaching down to grasp her shoulder so he could lean over her and thrust into her even harder. She moaned and hummed around his fingers, spreading her knees even wider for him.

 

He pulled his now clean fingers out of Sakura’s mouth with a pop, dragging them down her neck and chest. He stopped briefly to roughly pinch her nipple before continuing southward and settling on her clit. He drew rough circles against her most sensitive organ, immediately drawing loud moans from her which she muffled against the cushions.

 

She braced her hands against the arm of the couch so she could meet his thrusts, each breath she took a pleasured gasp now. Her groans grew louder and more wild as he pounded into her and played with her clit, bringing his own pleasure to a peak.

 

When she came with a cry, her opening somehow getting wetter and clenching around his unyielding length, he could feel his release welling up quickly. He pulled his hand away from her clit to grab onto her hips with both hands and fuck her hard, their skin slapping together and her groans wild as he dragged out her orgasm.

 

Pulling Sakura roughly against him, and thrusting so deeply into her that the head of his cock pressed flush against her deep inner barrier, Madara came inside her again. His hips twitched as he emptied himself deeply within her in spurts.

 

Once finished, his grip on her hips loosened and he leaned over her, panting and pressing sex delirious, affectionate kisses along her bare shoulders.

 

After a few long moments, the only sound being them catching the breath, she finally spoke.

 

"Where…” Sakura started, swallowing her pants before she continued, “Where are we?"  
  
"Nowhere you need to worry about..." the Uchiha hummed into her ear before kissing one of the bruises on her neck, "All you need to know is that it's where you'll be spending the night with me."  


He nipped at the junction between her neck and shoulder before soothing the spot with his tongue. She groaned in agreement, squeezing herself around his still half hard length and pressing herself back against him, drawing a hiss of pleasure from the Uchiha.

  
"Anywhere more comfortable than this couch?" she breathed sensually, moaning softly as he rolled his hips against hers.

  
He grinned against her neck.


	2. Morning After

When the Uchiha woke that morning, the sensation of slowly returning to consciousness was accompanied by the sensation of an unfamiliar weight across his chest. His confusion only lasted momentarily before memories of the night previous returned to him, followed by a rush of satisfaction.

 

Madara wasn’t sure he had ever had so much fun with a woman before. Sakura was a force of nature and an incredible bed partner. No woman had ever ridden him on his bike, no woman had ever been so open and trusting with their body with him, and no woman had ever gone - good gods what had it been - five rounds with him.

 

Sakura was a little hellion in bed.

 

A bed that they had actually reached that night after her request. And one they had thoroughly desecrated. He was grateful that someone in the club had had the foresight to put a bed in the back room of the office in this warehouse. While the thing was as comfortable as concrete and was only a twin, it was all that him and his valkyrie had needed to continue with their fun.

 

He was certain the only reason they had finally stopped was because they had both exhausted themselves. He didn’t even remember falling asleep.

 

The Uchiha wondered if she would still be feeling affectionate that morning. He certainly would be far from opposed to showing his appreciation for such a wonderful night.

 

A slow smirk spread across his lips before his eyes opened and his gaze was met by a mess of riotous pink.

 

Sakura was draped across his chest, stretched out languorously like a satisfied cat. One of her hands was tucked beneath his arm and the pillow that his head laid on while the other was wrapped underneath his neck. He couldn’t see her face, her beautiful features blocked by her mess of hair, but could feel her gentle breaths against his pectoral. Her legs were tangled in his, the only thing not on top of him being her hip.

 

He couldn’t blame her. He was certain his body was more comfortable than this ancient mattress, if the crick in his back was anything to go by.

 

Madara’s eyes roved across the expanse of creamy flesh that wasn’t concealed by the blanket draped over their hips. He sighed in satisfaction as he ran his hand down Sakura’s spine, his fingertips skimming along the soft skin of her back. As his fingers danced along her skin, skirting the concealing edge of the blanket and gently rousing her, he contemplated how he could convince her to come home with him.

 

It would be far better to spend more time in the comfort of his one bedroom home in the heart of Konoha than in this dingy warehouse, the only light which came from the office they had abandoned that night. He was happy that he had somehow remembered to flip on the light to the office the night before lest they be bathed in complete darkness now. After all, the warehouse lights were on timers and this back office certainly had no windows to let in natural light.

 

Not just that, but this back room wasn’t exactly the cleanest or most erotic of places. The room was stuffed with rusted filing cabinets and cardboard boxes filled to their brims with small replacement parts for the motorcycles. The room had probably never seen a broom since the day the MC bought the place and the scent of musty paper and grease was hardly an aphrodisiac.

 

She would like his home far more, he was certain of it. But how to convince her to spend more time with him…

 

As the ebony haired man’s fingertips traced nonsensical, circular patterns along the small of her back, Sakura finally woke. The soft groan she released as she stretched out, her smooth legs sliding against his, immediately send his blood southward.

 

His hand stilled on her back but his fingertips remained, loosely teasing the skin of her hip as she finally sat up. When their eyes met, he smirked as she blinked slowly.

 

“Good morning, my hellcat,” Madara hummed happily.

 

“Good morning…” she mumbled in return, dropping her face back against his chest so she could yawn cutely.

 

When she looked back up at him, rubbing her eyes in such an adorable fashion, his heart stuttered in his chest.

 

Who knew this sex demon of a woman could be so damn cute…

 

“Sleep well?” He purred, resuming his exploration.

 

His fingertips drifted from her hip up her side as he silently marveled at the soft skin beneath the calloused pads of his fingers.

 

“I, uh…” Sakura started, blushing as she broke eye contact. “Yes…”

 

Her gaze flicked across the room before beginning a search along the floor as she slyly slid off of him.

 

“Looking for something?” He questioned, quirking an eyebrow at her.

 

“Yes, my phone… What time is it?” she returned, her eyes returning to his although her blush remained.

 

For half a moment, and half a moment he hoped was unnoticeable to Sakura, he was pinned by her gaze. He had never seen eyes like hers, her undoubtedly clever orbs a striking shade of green. His mind was briefly brought back to memories of the stunningly beautiful rolling plains outside of Konoha.

 

Mentally shaking himself, he sat up. His own sharp eyes flicked across the room before he found his goal: his leather cut, carefully draped over the only chair in the room.

 

As he leaned over to grab his cut, he caught her eyes slowly raking down his chest with an intensity that he could feel against his skin. He noticed her gaze lingering on the tattoos decorating his arms and chest, specifically the black and gray tattoo of a hawk inked across his pectorals. He nearly growled when she bit her lip as her gaze dipped towards what little of him was still concealed beneath the blanket.

 

He paused in reaching for his cut, waiting until Sakura’s eyes drew back up his chest and met his heated gaze. She flushed in embarrassment at having been caught staring.

 

“See something you like?” He teased with a rakish smirk.

 

“I, uh…” She cleared her throat. “I like your tattoos…”

 

“That all?” He purred in response, drawing an even deeper blush from Sakura.

 

He chuckled as he grabbed the back of his cut and brought it to him. He fished his cell phone out of the inner pocket before returning the leather cut to the chair. He clicked the button on the side of his phone, the screen lighting up.

 

“It’s 7:12,” he announced, as he read through all the notifications on his phone.

 

A missed call from Izuna and one from Obito. No big deal. They were used to this kind of situation. He would text one of them back later and confirm what they already knew: that he was fine.

 

A couple missed calls and a voicemail from Itachi? Now that was strange indeed. His secretary never called on nights such as these and the man was fully aware that the elder Uchiha had made it out without being arrested. Perhaps it had something to do with Sakura having been on the back of his bike when he left then?

 

Five missed calls, a voicemail, and four text messages from Sasuke? While normally that would be incredibly bizarre, alarming even, the situation nearly called for it. Undoubtedly, the youngest Uchiha had heard from Itachi that Sakura had left on the back of his bike that night. The voicemail from Itachi was certainly a warning then to the inevitable hissy fit from Madara’s baby nephew.

 

A problem to be dealt with later.

 

Madara clicked the button on the side of the phone, returning it to inactivity, as Sakura commented from beside him, “Holy crap, it’s late.”

 

“Late?” He parroted with a quirked eyebrow, nearly laughing.

 

Seven in the morning was late for her?

 

“I need to get home,” she stated as she sat up, her arm coming up to cover her modest breasts as the blanket remained covering her center.

 

He felt disappointment well in him although he refused to show it. He had hoped he would have been able to convince her to spend more time with him, perhaps even share a day of carnal pleasures with him… but what the lady wanted, the lady got.

 

“Ah… Of course.”

 

He watched as she finally moved to stand, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion as her face suddenly dropped and as she stilled entirely. Just as he was about to ask if she was okay, she spoke.

 

“Is…” she muttered, eyes glued to the desk across from the bed as if it contained something of great interest.

 

“Yes?” He prompted curiously, leaning forward so he could gaze up at her face.

 

She gulped, her face flushing a deep shade of red in embarrassment. “Is there a bathroom here?”

 

Madara’s still sleepy mind fumbled over why she would possibly be embarrassed before he had a sudden realization. A wolfish grin spread across his lips.

 

“Through that door over there,” he replied, pointing towards a nondescript door on the opposite side of the room they had entered from that night.

 

As Sakura carefully stood and awkwardly strode towards the bathroom, his assumption was confirmed by the slick trail dripping down her inner thigh.

 

His cock twitched at the erotic sight of his cum dripping down her thigh but reigned his desire in. She wanted to go home and it was his duty to make sure she got home safely and as comfortably as possible. He was a gentleman after all, despite what some people would assume of men such as himself.

 

With a deep yawn, he slid out of bed, avoiding the wet spot on the sheets where Sakura had dripped the product of their affections. He tugged off the sheets and the blanket, tossing them onto the dirty floor next to the bed.

 

Madara found his pants, nearly inside out and partially hidden underneath the metal desk the chair was tucked beneath. Luckily his leather belt remained threaded through the belt loops and his holster was still securely clipped to the waistband.

 

He tugged his dark wash jeans back onto his hips, sans underwear as usual, before zipping up and securing his belt.

 

Pants now securely fastened to his hips, he leaned down to reach underneath the edge of the bed frame. He withdrew his pistol from the spot he had discreetly hidden it that previous night. While he was certain his bed partner had noticed that he had been armed during the ride to the warehouse, he hadn’t wanted to frighten her with it when they had been in the throws of passion.

 

The Uchiha MC president returned his .45 to it’s rightful place in the holster clipped to the back of his waistband, his leather belt keeping the handgun secured against the small of his back. The familiar weight brought a sense of comfort with it.

 

It took little time to locate his long sleeved shirt, the article of clothing inside out and barely clinging to the desk that Sakura had thrown it onto after ripping it off of him that night. He unfolded it and tugged it over his head before pulling his cut onto his shoulders. He pulled his unruly hair from underneath the back of his clothes, letting it fall where it will as he normally allowed it.

 

He returned his phone, still on vibrate, to the inner pocket of his cut before tugging his boots onto his feet, still covered by his socks. The only article of clothing he hadn’t lost that night, apparently.

 

Once dressed, the Uchiha left the back room and entered the office itself. After a brief search, he found Sakura’s dress, appearing to be just a circle of cloth with how tangled it was, on the floor next to the couch. Her sandals were nearby as well.

 

It took a bit more of an in depth search to locate her lacy panties, him finding his leather gloves before he found the cum soaked strip of cloth. He felt a thrill of arousal at the sight of her most intimate piece of clothing drenched in their shared fluids.

 

He had to figure out a way to see this woman again.

 

Madara pushed his arousal to the back of his mind, instead focusing on plans for seducing his valkyrie into his bed. He tugged his gloves back onto his hands and rolled up the sleeves of his long sleeve shirt before politely folding Sakura’s wrinkled dress as best he could. He dropped off her clothes and shoes in front of the bathroom door, softly knocking on the door twice, before exiting the back room.

 

He would give her her privacy. There was nothing anywhere in this warehouse that she could steal, although he seriously doubted she was that kind of person either way.

 

Besides, he had to pee and she was using the only bathroom. The only other choice he had was outside.

 

* * *

 

When Sakura finally exited the warehouse, dress wrinkled and hair finger combed, Madara was leaning on the wall next to the door, typing out a text to Izuna.

 

The club president had been right. The voicemail from Itachi had been a warning about Sasuke’s… concern for Sakura.

 

The brat should have more faith in his uncle. The string of panicked, borderline threatening text messages on his phone from Sasuke struck a nerve in the elder Uchiha.

 

He had done nothing but look after Sasuke and Itachi since they were born. While Madara certainly was no saint, he had never involved his nephews in any of the violent or torrid aspects of the club until they _chose_ to join the ranks. The two brothers may now be aware of who Madara was, of what their president did for the club and what he had done and will do for their family, but they should know that he was no monster.

 

A man who did monstrous things for the sake of the ones he loved, yes, but he was no monster.

 

The fact that Sasuke trusted him so little, the fact that his nephew even had concerns that Madara might hurt Sakura, left him feeling betrayed. And the feeling of betrayal from someone he loved so dearly, someone he would happily throw down his life for, stung deeply.

 

He pressed send on the text to his brother, refraining from releasing the sigh building in his chest. He turned his head to regard Sakura and was surprised by the look of worry on her face.

 

“What’s wrong?” He asked, clicking the power button on the side of his phone before tucking it back into the inside pocket on his cut.

 

“I can’t find my bag…” she explained with a deep frown, concern etched into her features, “It has my wallet, my phone, and the key to my apartment in it…”

 

Madara thought for a few moments before something occurred to him. “Was it… a little number? Barely the size of my hand, pink?”

 

Her features scrunched up in confusion as he apparently described her purse accurately. “Yes, how…”

 

She trailed off, her eyes becoming distant with thought, before her expression dropped. She had had the same thought he had: Sakura had had her purse in her possession during the entirety of the police chase but she didn’t have it when they arrived at the warehouse. The only solution was that she had dropped it on that back road when they had hooked up for the first time.

 

“I might know where it is… if no one has gone by and picked it up anyways,” Madara explained, pushing off from the wall of the warehouse.

 

“Okay… let’s go and see how screwed I am…” Sakura mumbled in response, her distress obvious.

 

“We’re on a pretty remote road here. I doubt anyone has even driven down this road since last night, let alone noticed your tiny purse.”

 

She looked up at him, hope seeping into her expression. He smiled comfortingly before taking a step forward and entering her personal space, reaching around her to click the lock button on the electric lock on the door.

 

As he got closer to her, he barely picked up the near silent intake of air from Sakura. When his gaze met hers again, curious as to why she had made such an admittedly cute noise, she immediately looked off to the side in embarrassment, a furious blush coloring her cheeks.

 

Arousal still lingering on the edges of his senses, and knowing that Sakura was certainly still very much aware of him, he smirked mischievously.

 

“You know I don’t bite too hard…” he teased in a low voice, drawing an even deeper blush from Sakura.

 

In a gesture that he wasn’t even sure if she noticed she had done, Sakura's hand reached up and her fingertips drifted across the deep purple bruises on her neck, left behind by his teeth and mouth. He nearly sighed in satisfaction at the sight of her flustered and aroused expression, her eyes distant as she replayed memories from that night.

 

He wanted to lean down and press his lips to that bruise on her throat. He wanted to bite down on the soft, creamy flesh of her neck. He wanted to tear off her dress and ravage her against the wall of this building, to watch her take her pleasure in the sunlight.

 

Madara stepped out of her personal space but made sure to slide his hand across her hip as he did. He turned on his heel and began his walk toward his bike, still parked beneath the tree at the edge of the lot. He tamped down the animalistic urge that clawed at his senses at the sight of her arousal.

 

Momentarily stunned, it took a moment for Sakura to catch up to him.

 

“That wasn’t fair…” she whined softly, looking up at him from underneath her bangs.

 

He smirked at her, meeting her gaze from the corner of his eyes. His eyes flicked across her face, taking in her shy expression. A woman who would ride him on his bike on a wide open road after a damn police chase had no business looking that cute.

 

“I suspect that you’re just easy to rile up,” he teased in response as they reached his bike. He brushed the leaves off of the leather seat.

 

“I am not!” She huffed in response, folding her arms across her chest as she glared at him.

 

He just straddled his bike, popping up the kickstand with his foot, and looked up at her with an expression of ‘told you so’. She continued to glare at him for a long moment before he patted the seat behind him.

 

Her glare faded and apprehension made it’s appearance on her face.

 

“No helmets?”

 

He chuckled as he took in her concerned expression, them now eye to eye with her standing and him sitting on his bike.

 

“You didn’t seem too concerned when we were flying down the freeway at one hundred and sixty miles per hour,” he chuckled, resting his elbow on one of the handlebars and dropping his chin into his palm.

 

“That was different!” She defended, perching her hands on her hips.

 

“Yes, this ride will be monumentally safer, I can assure you. I’ll be on my best behavior this time. No police chases, no breaking a hundred.”

 

“Promise?”

 

His smile warmed. “I promise.”

 

When she hesitantly settled onto the seat behind him, Madara’s own heartbeat ramped up in speed.

 

Normally the feeling of anyone behind him made him feel incredibly on edge. The sensation of someone at his back left him feeling anxious and agitated. That’s why he never allowed anyone to ride on his bike with him, not even any of the woman he had dated or hooked up with in the past. Sure, he had ferried a few passengers (unhappily) over the years due to extenuating circumstances but he had never willingly allowed anyone on the back of his bike.

 

Everyone else in the club just considered Madara’s dislike for people behind him to be a personality quirk and left it at that, although this often lead to a few practical jokes at his expense as the other club members tested his ‘sensitivity’.

 

With Sakura now, however, her presence behind him didn’t fill him with agitation. Quite the opposite, in fact. Her dainty arms wrapping around his middle, her cheek pressing against his back as she molded to him, and her thighs on the outside of his felt strangely comforting. Even last night, when she had been clinging to his back as he fled from the cops, her presence behind him had been exciting.

 

He refused to look any deeper into this bizarre change of heart as he turned the key to his bike, the engine roaring to life.

 

True to his word, he walked the bike out of the gravel lot as he accelerated at a much slower rate than when they had taken off from the bar. Once he was going fast enough to pull up his feet, he casually brought his bike to the speed limit of the road.

 

Madara felt as Sakura relaxed, her hands unclenching from his shirt and her arms loosening around his middle. Releasing a tension he didn’t know he had been holding, he relaxed as well, the feeling of her warm body pressed against her back and the familiar sensation of wind in his face soothing him.

 

It took little time to find the spot they had stopped before and only a moment longer for his sharp eyes to spot her tiny purse on the side of the road. He slowly came to a stop, his feet dropping to the ground, before he reached down and scooped up the small clutch.

 

“Lucky you,” he commented, raising his voice so he could be heard over the sound of his engine, as he passed Sakura her bag.

 

“Thank you,” she replied, raising her voice as well, as she checked the contents of her bag.

 

Apparently satisfied that nothing was missing, she pulled out her cell phone. She clicked the button on the side of the phone, protected by a sage green case.

 

Sakura sighed, although Madara couldn’t hear her over the sound of his bike.

 

“It’s dead,” she explained, tucking her phone back into her bag.

 

“Let’s get you home then. Where to?”

 

* * *

 

Madara gazed up at the apartment complex he had parked his bike outside of, taking note of the nice neighborhood… and her nosy neighbors.

 

The complex itself was wrapped around a center pavilion, the road he was parked on only giving him a view of the back porches and patios of Sakura’s neighbors. The walkway which wrapped around the outside of the apartment complex was dotted with trees and patches of grass, giving the neighborhood a less industrialized feel.

 

Despite it being so early in the day, quite a few tenants were perched on their porches or otherwise mulling about the outside of the complex. He suspected it had something to do with the fact that their pink haired neighbor was being dropped off by a member of one of the two most infamous motorcycle clubs in the city.

 

A man with his unruly brown hair pulled up in a high ponytail lounged in a hammock chair on his second story porch. A windchime shaped like dolphins played a nonsensical yet calming tune in the gentle breeze. He eyed them curiously over the book he held in his hands. Madara quirked an eyebrow when he noticed the book in the brunet’s hands was in fact upside down.

 

An elderly woman tended to a suspiciously dangerous looking garden (holy shit, was that a castor bean plant?) which overflowed over the edges of her patio. She slyly gazed at the pair as she watered her hemlock, doing a much better job of being discreet than the brunet.

 

Finally, Madara locked eyes with a silver haired man who wore an eyepatch and whose nose and mouth were covered by a scarf, despite the warm weather. His nose was also deep into a book, one Madara recognized as the newest romance novel in a series written by Obito’s favorite author, which he peered over the top of. The silver haired stranger wasn’t even slightly phased by the eye contact, instead continuing to watch the pair with vague interest as his leashed pug relieved itself in a patch of grass.

 

Madara’s eyes narrowed as he maintained eye contact with the silver haired male, a thread of recognition appearing at the edge of his consciousness. After a few moments of contemplation, he made the connection.

 

Was that…?

 

Sakura dismounted his bike, using his shoulder to stabilize herself and being careful to keep the skirt of her dress down, and drew the Uchiha’s attention away from the nosy neighbors.

 

“Sakura,” he started, earning a surprised look from the pink haired woman.

 

He suspected she was probably surprised that he had remembered her name. As if he could forget with her having moaned it in his ear after the most erotic and fantastic round of sex of his life.

 

“Yes, Madara?”

 

He smirked, satisfied that she remembered his name as well and with how pleasing it sounded falling from her lips.

 

“The club is having another get together at a bar called Sideways on Friday night. It’s in the north side…” he explained, feigning nonchalance as he leaned against the handlebars of his bike, “You should come.”

 

Her surprised expression slowly morphed into a flirty smirk as a cute blush bloomed on her cheeks.

 

“Hmm… I’ll think about it,” she purred in response.

 

He grinned wolfishly in response, purposely letting his eyes drag down and back up her body so she could see.

 

“Take care, my little hellcat.”

 

She turned on her heel with one last flirty look, making her way into her apartment complex. He admired the sensual swing to her hips, eyes lingering on her tight rear and her toned thighs. His fingers twitched as he thought of how those hips had felt in his hands as he had buried himself within her the night before.

 

Gods he wished she had invited him up to her apartment so they could continue with their fun from last night. If she even so much as peeked her head around the wall she had disappeared behind and crooked a finger at him, he would be back at her side in a heartbeat, eager to please.

 

Mentally shaking himself, he started his bike once again and took off.

 

Time for damage control, it seemed.

 

* * *

  
Sakura closed the door to her apartment before pressing her back to the cool wood. Unable to restrain herself, she giggled loudly, quickly stifling her glee with her hands.

 

She could hardly believe the night she had had! And with one of the most sexy, roguish men she had ever met. She couldn’t believe how shameless she had been last night but she couldn’t find it in herself to care. She had never had so much fun in her life.

 

Making a noise of delight, she sashayed farther into her apartment to gather her phone charger and to take a much needed shower. She plugged her phone in in the bathroom as she pulled her dress over her head, humming in absolute satisfaction.

 

Her euphoric bubble was soon popped by her phone vibrating so many times in a row that she lost count. She gazed down at the illuminated screen, her jaw nearly dropping.

 

Fourteen missed calls, eleven from Sasuke, two from Itachi, and one from an unknown number she had never seen before, and eight voicemails, seven from Sasuke and one from that strange number.

 

Curious, she unlocked her phone and opened her voicemails. Turning her phone on speaker, she tapped on the voicemail from the unknown number.

 

“ _Heeey, Sakura. It’s Naruto. I know, weird number to be calling you from. Well, funny story about that. I, uh… I’m in the county jail right now… I tried to run off when the cops came but they, uh… they got me. They’re faster than I remember as - shit, sorry, I know! Anyways, if you could, um, come bail me out? That would be great… I can pay you back! Just - hey, I know, it’ll just be a sec-!_ ”

 

The voicemail ended suddenly, as if his phone call had been cut off.

 

Sakura planted her face in her palm, groaning loudly. Of course that idiot had managed to get himself arrested. Knowing him, he was the only one the cops had gotten ahold of out of both of the motorcycle clubs and everyone else at the bar last night.

 

Poor Naruto had probably gotten picked on by the cops all night. While he may be dumb enough to get himself caught, Sakura knew he wasn’t dumb enough to talk to the police. They had probably given him a terrible time because of it to.

 

She needed to go bail him out. But first, she needed to quell Sasuke’s inevitable fury. Especially if he had left seven voicemails on her phone…

 

She clicked on the oldest message, Sasuke’s voice soon echoing in her bathroom.

 

“ _Hey, call me ba-shit._ ”

 

The voicemail cut off. Sakura suspected he must have seen a cop and took off again, a theory substantiated by the time gap between this voicemail and the next.

 

“ _I didn’t see you or Naruto leave and I can’t find either of you. Call me back when you can._ ”

 

Okay, still calm. A good sign.

 

“ _It’s me again. I’m at the gas station by Naruto’s apartment. Call me._ ”

 

Shit, he was starting to sound pissed. Next.

 

“ _It’s been a half hour, call me. I’m outside Naruto’s apartment._ ”

 

Crap. He had probably been freaking out with both her and Naruto having vanished that night and with neither of them picking up their phones... He probably didn’t even know that Naruto had gotten picked up by the cops. All Sasuke knew was that the Senju MC had broken down the doors on an Uchiha MC get together and now he couldn’t get ahold of either her or Naruto.

 

He had probably thought the worst. Little did he know what was really happening at the time he tried to call her...

 

Next.

 

“ _I just talked to Itachi and he said you left with my uncle! Are you out of your mind?! Call me back!_ ”

 

Sakura cringed. That explained the missed calls from Itachi of all people.

 

“ _I just called around and no one has seen you or Madara or Naruto. Where the hell are you?!_ ”

 

Sakura cringed harder at the sound of fury and fear in Sasuke’s voice. He rarely got so worked up…

 

Final message...

 

“ _Your goddamn phone is dead now and I still don’t know where you are. You better not be doing anything stupid! You know who he is. I’m going to go look for Naruto, no one knows where he went. Call. Me. Immediately._ ”

 

Sighing deeply over the inevitable stress she was about to have to endure, Sakura swiped between screens on her phone and clicked Sasuke’s name. No matter how upset Sasuke was going to be and no matter how hard he was inevitably going to lay into her, she needed to call him to calm him down. His anger came from fear of losing her or Naruto and he needed to know that they were both safe.

 

Her favorite photo of him, a picture of him passed out drunk on her kitchen floor, popped up as his caller ID photo. Even that was unable to cheer her up as she tapped the button to put her phone on speaker.

 

As her phone rang, she gingerly stepped out of her still damp panties. She blushed at the memory of having rinsed the cum out of them in the bathroom sink at that warehouse.

 

It had been very considerate of Madara to gather up her clothes for her though. He had been remarkably considerate the entire time they had spent together, actually, something she hadn’t expected but was grateful for. He had gathered up her clothes, given her her privacy, hadn’t pushed himself on her that morning, had gotten her purse for her, had taken her home when she asked, hadn’t used a condom…

 

Sakura gasped at the sudden realization and the gravity behind it. She should be ashamed for having been so caught up in her arousal that she hadn’t even considered using protection! She was a nurse after all! She was in medical school for gods’ sake!

 

She groaned as she decided to make an appointment with her primary to get antibiotics shots to treat any possible STDs. She did spend the entire night repeatedly fucking a strange biker that had came inside of her every time… even if it was Sasuke’s uncle.

 

No need to bring that up to Sasuke.

 

Wait, shit.

 

Sasuke knew she had spent the night with Madara. Or had at least left the bar with him. Should she come up with a lie? How would she tell Madara what to say? She didn’t have his phone number… What would Madara tell Sasuke? Should she just make something up? Tell him Madara just took her home and nothing happened? That she had passed out and that was why her phone had been dead?

  
Her phone clicked as Sasuke picked up on the fourth ring.

  
"You spent the night fucking my uncle!?" Sasuke’s disembodied voice bellowed through the phone.

  
Sakura choked.

 

"W-what?!” She squeaked in alarm before blurting out, “How did you find out!?"  
  
"You _did_!? It was just a hunch based on the fact it’s morning and you’re _just_ getting back to me, but my gods, why!? He's nearly double our age! And he’s-he’s _him_!"  
  


Sakura bristled at Sasuke’s tone.

 

“Don’t yell at me, asshole! I don’t judge you for your psycho girlfriend Karin even after she keyed my fucking car!” She shot back, glaring at the picture of Sasuke on her phone as if it were him in that moment.

 

“I spend a decade keeping you and Naruto away from my crazy family members and the first time I trust everyone enough to meet, you _literally fuck my uncle_?!” Sasuke berated, his anger amplifying in response to Sakura’s, “Let me guess, Naruto’s the biggest fuck up of all of us, I bet he had a goddamn threeway with Izuna and Obito!”

 

“Actually, he got arrested,” Sakura grumbled in response.

 

“Arrested! Ha! Of course he did! I guess I need to go bail him out!” he shouted, his tone beginning to verge on the edge of hysterics.

 

Sakura recognized that tone and immediately felt sympathy and shame tugging at her senses.

 

Sasuke hadn’t slept last night...

 

“Yeah, because having the prospect for the Uchiha MC going to bail out someone arrested during a brawl between the Uchiha’s and the Senju’s is such a great idea. Don’t be an idiot! I’m taking a shower and then I’m going to go get him,” she explained although her voice had lost the bite it had just a moment ago.

 

Sasuke was silent for a long moment before he sighed and muttered, “Hn, I guess… ugh…”

 

“Hey, don’t be so down. The way I see it, we made great first impressions…” Sakura paused, trying to withold her grin as she teased her childhood best friend, “Well, at least I did.”

 

The Uchiha made a disgusted noise in the back of his throat.

 

“Gods, gross. Charge your fucking phone more.”

 

The timer at the top of Sakura’s phone blinked a couple times, the numbers frozen in place, before the screen turned black, indicating Sasuke had hung up on her.

 

She shook her head before bringing her attention back to her shower. She leaned over the tub to spin the knobs, water jetting out of the showerhead. She stepped back from the stream, watching the water as she waited for it to warm up.

 

Her mind immediately returned to her newest bed partner as a sense of giddiness returned to her chest.

 

She considered Madara’s offer to meet him at another bar later that week. She seriously wondered if she should see him again, especially considering how taboo them being together was. They had slept together already though so what would be the harm in doing so again? Besides the obvious...

 

He was Sasuke’s uncle. He was nearly double her age. He was the president of the Uchiha MC and undoubtedly a violent outlaw involved in all kinds of illegal activities. They had met after a raid from another MC and during a run from the cops after all. He was a killer to, if the pistol she had felt pressed against her stomach during the ride, and the one he was careful to keep hidden from her when they finally fell into bed, was anything to go by.

 

He had also been the perfect gentleman. He had treated her with the utmost respect, not even hesitating to give her a ride when she had said she had to go home. He had respected her boundaries as well, not expecting a single thing from her that she hadn’t wanted to give...

 

Sakura looked up to gaze at her reflection in the mirror.

 

Her eyes skimmed over her still messy hair, her smeared makeup, her swollen lips. She blushed deeply as she caught sight of the vibrant hickies on her neck and the bruising on her hips, the colorful marks immediately bringing back memories of his mouth, his teeth, and his hands leaving his marks on her skin.

 

She could already feel warmth building as her clit tingled with immediate arousal.

 

The nurse could easily admit that she had never had that much fun with a man in her entire life. The bar fight, the hundred mile per hour run from the cops, flying around cars on the freeway as she clung to his muscled body for dear life.

 

She was so turned on by the time they stopped that she hadn’t even let him get a word in edgewise before she threw herself at him. And he had responded so quickly and with just as much passion as her.

 

Them fucking on his bike had been the most erotic thing she had ever done in her life. She couldn’t think of a time that she had acted so wanton or felt so sexy. She was never loud during sex but she had cried out so much as he fucked her. She had never been so forward during sex and just the thought of how she had ridden him made her blush furiously.

 

She had always felt self conscious of her body during sex, never wanting her previous partners to see her with the lights on or to look at her naked body too closely lest it ruin the mood for her. And here she had not only ridden him on his bike on a wide open, public road but she had felt no self consciousness whatsoever when she had exposed _everything_ to him on the couch in that warehouse.

 

He had treated her like she was the sexiest creature on the planet, despite having seen her tummy pooch, her stretch marks, her uneven labia, even -dear sweet fucking gods- her _hemorrhoids_.

 

She groaned in embarrassment, hiding her face in her hands.

 

And he still wanted to see her again? And he still thought she was sexy enough to give her that wicked grin of his when he leaned over his handlebars to admire her walking up to her apartment? Undoubtedly with her looking like crap with her hair, her makeup, and her clothes trashed? She had never felt more attractive.

 

Well… what would one more time hurt? Besides, she was curious about him. He had shattered her expectations and she was interested in learning a bit more of who he was.

 

Not to mention the sex was fantastic...

 

She smiled giddily as she stuck her hand into the stream of water, satisfied with the temperature. She hopped into the warm stream of water, closing the shower curtain behind her.

 

But first… shower, breakfast, bail Naruto out of jail, then spend the rest of the day studying. She had to try to get as much course work done as she could before her shift at the hospital tomorrow morning.

 

 


	3. My Place

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tiny rant here: I'm sure a great many of you have noticed how differently I portray Madara in my fic and I really hope it's a refreshing change of pace. I can't explain to you how much of a turn off it is to read this assholish, misogynistic, contemptible version of Madara (always paired with a weak-willed, weak-bodied, sexually inexperienced Sakura) that everyone seems to love to write. I run into these fics and I always think "oh, hey, he's abusive trash but maybe it will get better" but I'm always disappointed.
> 
> A strong, powerful man who can rip the throat out of an enemy and then use those same hands to caress his lover is incredibly sexy. Sexual assault isn't. A person can be a killer, a crime lord, and otherwise "evil" while simultaneously being affectionate, loving, gentlemanly, and NOT an abusive rapist.

Madara’s eyes flicked to the opening door for the hundredth time that night and, just like every other time, he was met with disappointment. He leaned farther back into his chair, attempting nonchalance, as he refolded his ankles from where his feet were propped up on the low table before him.

 

He dragged his eyes away from the door, his gaze flicking across the masses of Uchiha MC members, supporters, and friends swarming the bar. Unsurprisingly, he didn’t spot her hidden among the crowds in the bar that was a near carbon copy of The Dead End.

 

He took yet another measured sip from his glass of whiskey as Izuna continued to talk about club business next to him. Unfortunately for his younger brother, Madara was far to distracted to hear a word of it.

 

Sighing silently, he swirled the glass in his hands absentmindedly, watching as the amber liquid formed a whirl.

 

Madara was beginning to wonder if she would show up at all. Or, rather, he was beginning to suspect that his expectation that she wasn’t going to show up at all was accurate, despite the hope he held that it wasn’t.

 

Sakura had left quite an impression on him.

 

He hadn’t been able to stop thinking about her since he had dropped her off at her apartment. She was a continuous figure in his mind no matter what he was doing. The entire week had been plagued with constant thoughts of her.

 

When he ate, he wondered what her favorite foods were. Did she have a sweet tooth? What did she think of sushi? Would she like his favorite food, inarizushi?

 

When he rode, he imagined the feeling of her clinging to his back. He had briefly wondered if he had shaken off his aversion to people being behind him due to his sudden change of heart with her. That thought was quickly abandoned when Shisui had snuck up behind him in an attempt at a prank and Madara had instinctively elbowed him in the gut so hard that his cousin had nearly lost his lunch. Madara was, bizarrely enough, only comfortable with Sakura at his back...

 

When he boxed with Izuna or Obito, Madara thought of when she had fought those Senjus at the bar. He wondered where she had trained at and if she still did. He also wondered if she would be up for a dance with him.

 

When he plunged a knife into the gut of the rat was who had put his family in danger by instigating the battle with the Senju MC at The Dead End, he pondered on what her hobbies might be. As he wiped the blood from his blade and his hands and watched, disinterested, as Obito dragged off the corpse for disposal, he pondered what she did for a living. A teacher maybe? Perhaps a personal trainer? She could easily be a martial artist with how she had easily held her own in that fight and how toned and powerful her lithe body was...

 

When he went to sleep or woke up, he wondered if she would sleep on top of him like she had at the warehouse. Did she snore? Talk in her sleep? She seemed to be a cuddler, something he was deeply satisfied with. And she apparently woke up at the crack of dawn consistently if seven in the morning was late for her.

 

When he worked on his bike, he fantasized about her fucking him on it. He would die before he forgot the memory of her riding him. Just the thought of that night sent blood rushing southward.

 

Sakura had taken root in his mind so deeply that he just couldn’t shake her from his thoughts.

 

The elder Uchiha felt as if he should have been embarrassed for obsessing over the young woman so quickly. He hardly knew a thing about her after all. The only thing they had shared had been a one night stand and, a week later, he still thought of her constantly. He felt like he should have been ashamed...

 

The door to the bar swung open once again and his eyes shot to the doorway. He frowned deeply as two unknown women entered, his disappointed gaze returning to his half finished glass once again.

 

More than anything though, Madara wished he had gotten her number. That way he could ask if she was even coming. The suspense was killing him.

 

He supposed that he could ask his baby nephew if she was coming or not but he suspected that his inquiry would be met with outright hostility.

 

It had been a long time since Madara had seen Sasuke so pissed. The rest of the club hadn’t exactly been thrilled with Madara and Sakura’s little tryst either...

 

* * *

 

Sakura’s apartment wasn’t been far from the Uchiha MC clubhouse, a tidbit of information that Madara had neatly tucked away as he rode to the clubhouse. He drove around the front of the property, passing by the auto shop the club used as a front, and noted the business had a couple customers. Driving around to the back of the property, he pulled up at a wooden gate boldly painted with the MC’s emblem.

 

Lifting the cover housing the keypad to open the gate, he tapped in the code and the gate swung open. Giving his bike a little throttle, he rode into the compound and parked near the entrance to the clubhouse and next to a half dozen other bikes. The wooden gate automatically shut behind him as he shut off his bike and forced down the kickstand.

 

Madara hadn’t even dismounted his bike before Itachi emerged from the clubhouse and appeared next to him.

 

“Sleeping with Sakura was in incredibly poor taste,” Itachi commented immediately, not even bothering with pleasantries.

 

Madara quirked an eyebrow at the younger Uchiha, surprised by his forwardness. One glance at Itachi’s face, and the tightness around the corners of his mouth and the edges of his eyes, told the club president that his clan mate was deeply upset.

 

“Is that so? Care to guess what else it is? None of your concern,” the elder Uchiha responded coolly, standing to his full height as he dismounted his bike.

 

“It becomes my concern when your poor decisions lead to chaos in the family. You do realize that Sasuke first met Sakura in elementary school, correct? While you were already in the club, carrying out orders for grandfather? My father watched her grow up alongside Sasuke, myself, and Naruto. Sleeping with her makes you look like a man of ill repute.”

 

“No matter how she became involved with our family, she is still a grown woman capable of making her own decisions. Not some child that was taken advantage of by a _man of ill repute_ ,” Madara growled, giving Itachi a hard look. “Or is your little brother unable to make his own decisions either? Should I turn him down, despite everything he’s done as prospect? If she can’t be trusted with her own body, how can I trust him with my life?”

 

Despite the young man’s skill in schooling his features, it was obvious Madara’s words affected him. If Sasuke was denied entrance to the club just because of Itachi’s words, the youngest Uchiha would never forgive him.

 

“Sasuke is furious,” Itachi stated in monotone before his gaze flicked back to Madara pointedly, “My father is going to be furious…”

 

“Let them be. You may all treat her as if she were a child but just because you all view her in such a disrespectful manner doesn’t mean I will do the same.”

 

“Yes, because fucking a close family friend in a warehouse is the epitome of respect.”

 

The president was surprised by his nephew’s tone. It was so rare to hear Itachi cuss and knowing that he was upset enough to do so gave the elder man a new perspective on the situation.

 

Sakura had apparently been closer to Sasuke and Itachi than he had suspected.

 

Madara’s eyes narrowed. How close, he wondered.

 

“I suggest you mind the tone you take with your president, secretary,” he growled in response.

 

Itachi and Madara locked gazes, neither backing down for a long moment. It was the younger Uchiha who finally looked away with a barely noticeable sigh, his expression returning to one of neutrality.

 

“Very well… president.”

 

Madara remained for a few moments before turning on his heel and stepping towards the red and white painted double door leading into the clubhouse.

 

“And the answer is no,” Itachi stated, seemingly out of the blue.

 

Madara stopped, looking over his shoulder at his nephew. “And the question would be?”

 

“She’s just a family friend,” he answered vaguely, his carefully indifferent gaze focused off in the distance.

 

Madara paused, considering his words, before returning to his walk inside. He passed a row of picnic tables covered in dirty ashtrays which served as the smoking area for the members of the club and their visitors. Itachi remained silent as the elder Uchiha opened one of the double doors leading into the clubhouse and entered their sanctuary.

 

As the door closed behind him, the president’s eyes flicked across the room, taking in the members of the club that were present and any changes to the environment. The two story clubhouse was nearly the same as it was when he was a child.

 

The main room had a high arching ceiling with a balcony on one side which overlooked the bottom floor. Atop that balcony, behind another set of double doors, was the meeting room for the officers of the club. The room he once stared up at in wonder as a child, where his father would disappear for hours at a time with the officers he had chosen during his leadership, and where Madara himself now gathered his own officers to discuss the more sensitive aspects of club business.

 

One side of the main room below was dominated by an open bar. He spotted Kagami, their self-designated bartender and clubhouse caretaker, absentmindedly cleaning glasses and neatly arranging the various liquors behind the bar. The young Uchiha disappeared into a doorway behind the bar, one which opened into a hallway leading into the main room and also contained a walk in cooler where they stored beer, various other beverages, and some foodstuffs.

 

Izuna and Obito sat perched at the bar, surrounded by half empty styrofoam containers from the nearby diner. Obito’s eyes flicked up to meet Madara’s gaze as soon as the elder entered the clubhouse. They both shared a nod of acknowledgement before the younger Uchiha’s attention returned to the book awkwardly held in his one hand. Madara needed to get the one armed man a damn kindle.

 

Izuna glanced over and gave a halfhearted wave before he returned to whatever it was he was doing on his phone.

 

Decorating the wall above the bar, surrounding yet another massive painting of the club’s crest, were numerous awards and accolades given to the club itself. Awards from the city and various associations recognizing the numerous charity events and organizations the club ran. From toy drives to back-to-school charities for the kids, from animal shelters to homeless shelters, from free scholarships to programs to train new mechanics at their shop, and everything in between, the club did everything in their power to assist the community.

 

They may do some heinous things behind closed doors but they did their best to make up for it by giving back to the city that gave them a home.

 

The MC president wasn’t surprised by the fact that the only Uchihas present were Izuna, Obito, and Kagami. It was early morning, after all, and the vast majority of the MC held jobs unrelated to the mechanic shop the club ran.

 

Kagami spent his free time tending to the clubhouse but he was currently working on his law degree, gladly paid for by the clan. The value of a lawyer, especially one already privy to the delicate matters pertaining to club business, was well worth the cost of his schooling. Even if his direct ties to the MC could lead to issues in the future regarding conflicts of interest, preventing family secrets from being revealed to outsiders was worth the hassle of overcoming these hurdles.

 

Izuna and Madara would occasionally find themselves helping out in the shop but the majority of their funds came from the money they made as independent contractors. Madara held a master’s in mechanical engineering while Izuna conversely held a master’s in electrical engineering. The money they made independently with their specialized skills bordered on obscene and they supplemented their profits even farther with illicit earnings made through the MC.

 

Obito, on the other hand, worked as a mechanic in the club run shop. He refused to allow his missing limbs to interfere with his only legitimate work and even more vehemently refused to go on disability to pull in money. Instead, he made nearly all of his money carrying out the more unsavory jobs for the club and used the shop to launder his earnings.

 

The inseparable trio, Itachi, Shisui, and Izumi, all worked in the shop as well, although it was for much the same reason as Obito: to launder their unlawful income. The three cousins used their earnings to fund their individual and unique passions, such as Itachi’s writing, Izumi’s music, and Shisui’s painting.

 

The only others who worked in the shop were a couple other clan mates and a few underprivileged teens that the club had taken on as students as part of their charity work. Most of whom appeared to be hard at work.

 

Madara’s eyes continued in their perusal of his home away from home. The pool tables at one end of the room remained empty, the balls neatly arranged in the rack for the next game. A dozen pool cues of various sizes and lengths hung on the wall behind the table.

 

Precariously close to the pool tables hung a few dart boards and farther still sat a few arcade games. The games remained off until someone wanted to play them. The video games were fun but the sound they made while idling on the main screen was maddening after so long.

 

None of the paintings of motorcycles and cars had changed. Vinyl records, guitars, and the skulls of various animals remained perched on the walls as out of the ordinary decorations. Numerous framed photos of clan mates, part of the club or not, hung around the room, displaying the pride they all held in their family members. The clan crest decorated nearly every free surface, whether in be between pictures or painted on furniture.

 

A handful of tables with matching chairs were all empty, the chairs neatly tucked into their homes. One corner of the room was dominated by black leather couches all surrounding a massive flat screen tv. The tv played the local news on mute, black and white closed captioning flicking across the bottom of the screen.

 

Madara watched for a few minutes to see if they were reporting on their little altercation with the police last night and was satisfied when the newscaster made no mention. It was to be expected. After all, no one from his club had been arrested by the Kiri police force and the club had abandoned the Kiri city limits and fled into Konoha, outside of the police force’s jurisdiction, during the chase.

 

The pigs would leave him and his family alone. The club made sure to never shit where they ate, after all.

 

Although Madara was _very_ interested in finding out how the Senju MC had found out where his club was going to be that night, in mass and comparatively exposed at Zabuza’s secluded bar...

 

Turning away from the tv, he caught sight of Shisui exiting the hallway leading farther into the clubhouse. The hallway lead to spare rooms for all of the officers of the club, a few bunk rooms for the other patch holders to share, a public bathroom, and a staircase that lead to the meeting room for the officers. His road captain must have made his way here last night and crashed in his spare room.

 

Shisui caught his eye and, before Madara could say a word, the younger Uchiha leveled him with a harsh glare and turned on his heels to stomp back into the hallway.

 

‘ _What the hell was that about?_ ’ the wild haired Uchiha thought in confusion and with a vague sense of offense, ‘ _Don’t tell me he-_ ”

 

His thoughts were immediately interrupted by Sasuke emerging from that same hallway with fire in his eyes.

 

“Have fun last night, Prez?” he hissed as he stormed up to Madara.

 

The elder Uchiha quirked an eyebrow at his furious nephew, easily seeing that this conversation was going to escalate quickly.

 

“My new friend and I had a quite a lot of fun actually,” he answered, Sasuke’s scowl deepening so far he nearly bared his teeth, “How that would be of any concern to you though… I couldn’t say.”

 

“She’s _my_ best friend! She’s _my_ sister!”

 

“And your point is? I fail to see how your friendship somehow translates to your ownership of her.”

 

“I’m not her keeper but she didn’t know any better, hopping onto the back of your bike!” Sasuke defended, stepping forward until he was breaching the elder Uchiha’s personal space ferociously.

 

Madara was unmoved by the young man’s aggressive gesture, easily standing his ground. “Oh? The way I see it, I’m the only one who helped her. I’m the one who kept those sick Kiri pigs away from her. Where were you, nephew? I don’t remember you staying behind to make sure your supposed best friends got out safe.”

 

Sasuke’s face flushed with a combination of humiliation and rage. This time he did bare his teeth.

 

Apparently Madara had touched on a soft spot.

 

“And then you had the fucking depravity to-!” the younger Uchiha began to yell, raising his voice to his uncle.

 

“To what, nephew!?” the wild haired Uchiha roared back as he took a step forward, invading Sasuke’s personal space threateningly as his nephew had done to him. His sudden outburst immediately cowed the younger man who took a quick step backward in retreat.

 

The club president huffed out a sigh when he noticed the very real fear that had flashed in his nephew’s eyes. He took a breath to reign in his anger before he continued, his tone even once again, “I assume you spoke to her already? Discovered that she’s home safe?”

 

Sasuke scowled once again but remained silent.

 

“A yes then, I take it? Did I hurt her?” Madara continued, prompting an answer from Sasuke with a drawn out silence.

 

The young man didn’t respond. Instead, his gaze dropped to the floor in embarrassment although his scowl remained.

 

“No? Of course I didn’t. Although you certainly seem eager to find some nefarious intentions on my part. You seemed to see me as some monster who stole away your friend instead of the clan mate who kept her safe when you flooded my phone with your borderline hostile texts last night. Do you truly think so little of your own uncle?”

 

Their argument had drawn the attention of all three Uchiha at the bar, their expressions varying. Obito looked on with a quirked eyebrow while Kagami bore an expression of utter shock. Izuna, however, maintained a look of barely concealed anger. It was obvious Sasuke’s lack of faith in Madara was taken personally by Izuna as well.

 

“I’m just-” Sasuke started, clinging to his retreating fury as he struggled for words.

 

“Let me ask you something,” the club president interrupted, “Do you feel the same about Izuna? What of Obito? You kept your friends hidden away from us, as if we were animals to be hidden away from, for all these years after all. But not from your brother, Shisui, or Izumi. Are only they good enough for you?”

 

Sasuke’s gaze shot up to meet Madara’s, a kind of panic in his eyes at having been caught. “No, I was just-!”

 

“Just what? Why are you even here if you think so little of us? Why want to join the club if you think of us as fiends?”

 

“I don’t!” He denied vehemently, “I want to stay, I want to join, because you are family, you’re all family!”

 

“Then why don’t you show it? And if you’re not capable, you can leave. None of us want a club mate that they can’t trust, who doesn’t trust them, at their backs,” Madara informed, leveling his youngest family member with a heavy stare.

 

“I… of course, uncle…” Sasuke muttered, dropping his head and staring at the floor with an expression nearly resembling regret.

 

The elder Uchiha would have appreciated an apology but knew he would never get one from his angsty nephew. The fact the young man had settled down this much and had gone back to calling him uncle was impressive, considering how furious he had been.

 

Madara sighed deeply before he snaked an arm around his nephew’s shoulders and dragged him into a rough hug. Sasuke made a noise of surprise and hesitated for a long moment before returning his uncle’s embrace with a hard pat on the back.

 

When the elder Uchiha spoke, he spoke under his breath so only Sasuke could hear. “I know that some parts of the club can be frightening. And I know you’re seeing a new side of me now that you’re our prospect. But don’t forget that _I love you_ , you ungrateful little brat, and I would never hurt you or any of your friends.”

 

He felt as the young man finally released the tension in his shoulders. He patted his nephew on the back before releasing him and leaving him to walk towards the bar that Obito and Izuna occupied, Kagami having politely stepped out to give his president privacy. He perched on one of the barstools with a heavy sigh, eyeing the takeout boxes filled with half eaten breakfast meals.

 

“And Sasuke?” he started, snatching a piece of cold toast from Izuna’s box of takeout before turning to face the youngest clan member.

 

Sasuke appeared to be stunned, standing like a deer in headlights, before he gave his uncle his full attention.

 

“Go clean up the warehouse on Dogwood Road. It’s filthy.”

 

The young man’s stunned expression slowly made way to a look of disgusted realization before he gave his uncle his trademark glare and stormed off. At least this time the young man no longer held the furious tension in his shoulders. Now he just walked with his normal, jaded swagger.

 

Madara chuckled as he bit into the cold toast. The food may be a touch on the soggy side but it was the first thing he had ingested in nearly twenty four hours, besides whiskey. He hadn’t realized just how hungry he was until just then and eyed the other half empty boxes for scraps he could pilfer.

 

As Sasuke swung open the door to leave, Izumi stepped inside. She gave the young man a curious look, surprised by his change in attitude from earlier, before she spotted the president of the club at the bar. Rubbing the grease from her hands off on the legs of her overalls, she walked over to greet him.

 

“At least someone is working the shop today,” Madara greeted before taking another bite from his pilfered breakfast.

 

“Yeah, some of us like to keep busy…” she commented slyly as she leaned against Izuna’s shoulder and gave the Uchiha MC president a pointed look, “Some busier than others…”

 

Madara huffed, leveling the young woman with a peeved stare. “Truly? You have something to say as well? Should I open a forum so everyone can give their opinions?”

 

She chuckled in response, crossing her arms across her chest in amusement. “Itachi could construct a survey. I can see it now. The choices would be: ‘Doesn’t give a shit’, ‘Treat her well or I’ll kick your ass’, and ‘he’s an old pervert’.”

 

Izuna snorted out a laugh, still absorbed in his phone, and Kagami’s chuckles could be heard from the cooler, revealing his eavesdropping. Obito remained focused on his book, more interested in Jiraiya’s newest novel than the conversation around him.

 

“Watch it. I’ve dealt with enough sass today,” the wild haired Uchiha grumbled, giving his treasurer a lukewarm glare as he finished his piece of toast.

 

“The way I see it, she’s a grown woman who can make her own choices. You need a woman like her to make an honest man out of you anyways,” she continued to tease, both her and Izuna laughing outright at Madara’s miffed expression.

 

Even Obito cracked a smile as he propped his book against his knee so he could flip the page.

 

“Get back to work,” Madara commanded halfheartedly, plucking the last piece of toast out of Izuna’s leftover breakfast and delivering his brother a swift kick in the calf. Izuna cussed as he jolted, rubbing his injured leg with one hand.

 

“Whatever you say, P,” Izumi sing-songed in response, jostling Izuna with her shoulder as she pushed off of him.

 

The brunette hopped up to lean over the bar, reaching into the fridge beneath it to snag a cold ale, before giving the three men the Scout’s Salute and sauntering off.

 

As Madara bit into his next piece of toast, he noticed Obito’s amused grin from before still lingered even as the scarred man continued to read his ‘romance’ novel.

 

“Well, do you have something to add?” the wild haired Uchiha grumbled in between bites.

 

“Just that you two make a good match,” Obito stated simply, marking his page with his finger and closing his book so he could give his mentor his full attention.

 

Madara stopped chewing for a moment. “What was that now?”

 

“She knocked out two Senju for hitting Sasuke. One with her bare hands and the other with a _bar stool_ ,” he explained, gesturing with his book as if it were the most obvious thing on the planet.

 

“You saw that to then?”

 

“She’ll fit right in,” he replied as he flipped open his book and resumed reading once again, “Well, if she comes back, that is. Sasuke is pretty pissed.”

 

The elder Uchiha tried to ignore the warm sensation in his chest. He turned to face his brother, who he now noticed was busy playing a ninja fighting game on his phone, as he finished his last bite of toast.

 

“And what about you?” Madara asked in exasperation.

 

“I can’t find it in me to give a shit about your hookups, brother,” Izuna replied, disinterested, as he tapped away at his phone, “I just hope you used protection.”

 

“Of course I...” he immediately started to defend before his statement petered out, “I, er…”

 

Izuna looked up from his game just long enough to quirk an eyebrow at his brother. “Get to the doctor, you moron. But take a shower first, you reek like sex, perfume, and grease.”

 

Madara grimaced.

 

He was glad Sasuke wasn’t around to hear this conversation… Madara wasn’t sure he would ever gain his nephew’s forgiveness if he found out that his uncle had slept with his best friend without even using protection.

 

* * *

 

“Are you even listening?”

 

Madara’s eyes flicked up from his half empty glass to look at his brother who was levelling him with an irritated stare.

 

“What?” he asked, raising his eyebrows as his focus returned to the bar around him.

 

“Of course not. You’ve been distracted all week, ever since that night with the girl. You need to get your head out of your ass and focus,” Izuna berated, eyes narrowing at his elder brother before he continued, “I was telling you about how we need to go through with the renovation to the auto shop because-”

 

The doors swung open once again. Madara’s gaze flicked over.

 

Sakura entered.

 

He blinked a couple times as he stared at her in wonder, not quite believing she had finally made her appearance. He watched as she glanced around the room before her gaze settled on the bar on the opposite side of the room as him. His eyes were glued onto her as she made her way to the bartender and placed an order.

 

He greedily took her in, his eyes dragging from her head down to her feet. Her short hair was down but her bangs were pinned back so they didn’t hang in her face. A legitimate black leather purse hung from her shoulder, a far cry from the tiny clutch she had lost on that back road a week ago. The dark wash scrap of cloth one might call daisy dukes revealed the smooth expanse of toned, creamy thighs and brought back memories of when they had been wrapped around his waist. A cream colored crop top, sans bra once again he noticed with glee, clung to her dainty breasts and emphasized the soft skin of her firm belly. A loose, scarlet ( _she was wearing his color_ ) shawl barely clung to her shoulders, the sheer fabric flowing around her breezily with her fluid movements. She even wore a pair of combat boots, a tiny, adorable copy of the pair on his own two feet.

 

She looked magnificent.

 

“-is really becoming a problem and _are you even listening_!?” Izuna’s aggravated voice finally came into focus again as Madara’s feet slid off the table and returned to the floor as he quickly stood.

 

“Yeah, yeah.” He polished off his drink, depositing the empty glass on the table and roughly patting his brother on the shoulder, not once taking his eyes off of Sakura. “Talk to Izumi, get it started. Can’t have water leaks in the shop.”

 

“We fixed the leaks three days ago, it’s the damned damage that’s the problem! Madara!” Izuna fumed but his brother was already off, striding towards the woman who had dominated his thoughts for the past week.

 

He walked up behind her and placed his hands on either side of her, caging her against the bar. He breathed in her scent, a floral perfume with a distinct feminine undertone that was uniquely her, which flowed over him like a wave and brought with it a rush of excitement. He could feel his heartbeat in his chest.

 

_She had come to see him._

 

Sakura turned around in his arms to gaze into his onyx eyes, sipping at a colorful drink he didn’t even know they served here, and quirked an eyebrow at him.

  
"It is _very_ nice to see you again, my hellcat," Madara purred, a cat like smirk stretched across his lips, as he leaned down so they were face to face, “You look stunning.”

  
She popped the straw out of her mouth and, without skipping a beat, asked, "Are you clean?"  
  
He blinked, thrown off by her blunt question, before he laughed and dropped his forehead against her shoulder.

 

He certainly was. He had spent the better part of the afternoon they had separated getting doses of various antibiotics and taking a very invasive STD test after all. He would know for certain at this point.

 

"Of course..." the Uchiha hummed, sighing happily as he nuzzled her neck and breathed her in, "And you?"  
  
"Mhmm..." she breathed, her heart rate ramping up against his lips.

 

He grinned as he began pressing kisses from the junction of her shoulder up to her earlobe. Sakura shakily set down her drink on the bar as her free hand clung to his shirt.

 

“Birth control?” he questioned before he pressed a kiss to the tender skin under her ear.

 

“Yes…” she uttered softly in response as her other hand came to smooth up his chest, goosebumps raising in her wake.

  
"Good. That means you can come with me to my place so we can fuck all night again," the wild haired man heatedly whispered into her ear before biting her neck playfully, pulling a breathy gasp from her, "And I can leave new bruises on you..."

 

"Yes it does..." Sakura’s free hand slid down his chest and across his belt. When she cupped him through his jeans, he sucked in a breath. "What are you waiting for then?"

 

He growled in response as he immediately scooped her up into his arms. Her arms wrapped around his neck for support as her thighs closed around his waist. The familiar sensation instantly had arousal shooting through him and spurred him onwards.

 

He carried her outside, passing by Sasuke whose expression was one of absolute horror, and into the cool night air. He straddled his bike, depositing her back into his lap. He slid her purse from her shoulder, jamming it into his saddle bag so she wouldn’t lose it. Again.

 

As Madara reached to turn the key to his vehicle, Sakura dragged his attention away by cupping his face. She stunned him by pulling him into a soft, tender kiss.

 

He paused, the entirety of his being focusing on her as his once frenzied movements came to a halt. Instead of their last kiss, one of instant and incredible fiery passion, this kiss was a slow burn. Her lips moved against his sweetly, like how someone would kiss someone they loved and not just someone they just wanted to sleep with. His heart swelled in his chest as he slowly wrapped his arms around her, pulling her closer. Her arms slid down to wrap around his neck, beneath his unruly hair.

 

Her doting kisses slowly morphed into ones of passion as she sensually slid her tongue along the seam of his lips. Instead of biting this time, however, his hands just tightened around her, holding her firmly against his chest. When he pressed his tongue between her lips, she mewled softly and arched against him.

 

He wasn’t sure he had ever been kissed like this…

 

It was so passionate but not in a way he was used to, not in the way they had shared before. The sweetness behind it took his breath away.

 

The passion between them slowly rose to a peak as their mouths and tongues moved against one another’s languorously. She broke the kiss suddenly, both of them panting as she dropped her forehead against his. It took a long moment for him to regain his bearings after the bliss he had been enveloped in.

 

“Aren’t we going to your house?” Sakura panted against his lips with a teasing smile, challenging him.

 

The corner of the Uchiha’s lip quirked up in amusement. She was perfect.

 

He leaned forward to press another lingering kiss to her lips and to turn the key to the ignition. To her credit, she didn’t even jump at the sound of his bike starting. When he leaned back, intent on letting her move so she was sitting behind him, she followed the motion and, sneaking under his curtain of hair, planted her soft lips to the tender skin of his neck.

 

He groaned, the deep sound overwhelmed by his idling bike. She continued to press soft, affectionate kisses to his throat, slowly making her way to his ear.

 

“Just go,” she commanded against his ear before nipping his earlobe.

 

Madara dug his fingers into her hip in surprise. He had to drag his hands away from her and onto the handlebars of his bike. She was making it very difficult for him to focus as she continued with her affection but he forced himself to be present as he adjusted into a decent riding position. The feeling of her moving against him, her thighs sliding against his sides as she moved her feet into a safe spot, distracted him for a long moment.

 

Mentally shaking himself, he turned the throttle and sped out of the asphalt parking lot.

 

Despite his house being such a short distance away and despite the fact he had sped the entire trip, the ride felt as if it dragged on forever. Sakura kept pressing kisses to his neck, interspersed with sweet love bites that were more tender than teeth.

 

When he finally pulled up at his darkened home, he immediately clicked the button on his garage opener, a small dongle that hung from his keys. He walked his bike into the clean workspace and parked next to his seldom used truck. The garage door closed behind them.

 

When the ebony haired man shut off his bike and forced down the kickstand, his lover startled him by sinking her teeth into his neck and sucking hard. He bucked up against her, a hiss of pleasure escaping his lips, as his hands shot to her hips. He wrapped his arms around her and lifted her off his bike as he stood. He wasn’t wasting any more time.

 

As he carried her towards the door leading into his home, he noticed her craning her neck and looking around.

 

"You can explore tomorrow morning, little hellion,” he assured, freeing one hand so he could open the door.  
  
"I want to see now though..." she pouted.  
  
"How about this... for each room I take you to, you lose one article of clothing,” he suggested, Sakura pulling back to gaze down at him.  
  
"Deal."   
  


He smirked. “Garage.”

 

Sakura removed her arms from his shoulders so she could pull off her scarlet shawl. Instead of letting her drop it on the dirty floor of his garage, he pushed open the door with his foot where she dropped it on the clean carpet.

  
"Entryway,” the Uchiha continued, quirking an eyebrow in amusement when she toed off one shoe.

 

He pulled open the door closest to him, revealing a closet filled with coats, scarves, shoes, and umbrellas.

 

“Closet,” he sassed, drawing a laugh from his lover as she pulled off her other shoe.

 

Before walking farther into his house, he toed off his own boots, abandoning them next to their tiny copies. As he walked further into his home, he flipped light switches, illuminating his path.

 

He entered his living room, the living space furnished with a maroon sectional, a matching armchair, a glass coffee table, a few bookshelves filled to the brim, a entertainment center, and a flat screen mounted on the wall. A banner with the Uchiha MC crest decorated one wall and a bar separated his living room from the still halfway darkened kitchen. The woman in his arms took it all in greedily.

  
"Living room.”

 

“Nice decorating,” Sakura complimented as she tugged off her off white crop top and revealed her bare breasts, unrestricted by a bra.

  
Madara hummed in satisfaction, hoisting her farther up into his arms so he could press a kiss between her petite breasts. She sighed in delight, her arms wrapping around his neck. When his mouth closed around one of her rosy nipples, her fingers dug into his wild mane of hair.

 

He walked forward to set her down on the bar dividing his kitchen and living room. Her thighs remained locked around his waist as he pressed her down against the cool surface of the granite countertops. She yelped, jolting back up against him when her bare back met the cold stone.

 

He chuckled as his gloved hands slid down her sides, gliding over the curve of her waist, and settled on the waistband of her jean shorts.

 

“Kitchen…” he purred, unbuttoning her shorts with a pop as she leaned back on her elbows and loosened her legs from his waist.

 

Madara dropped his head down to her chest to catch her untouched nipple in his mouth. He unzipped her shorts as he dragged his tongue across the sensitive peak, drawing a sigh from Sakura. As he pulled her shorts down her legs, he pressed kisses from between the valley of her breasts down to her navel. Her deceptively delicate looking hands reached down to cling to his shoulders, her back falling flat against the countertop, as her shorts and his gloves fell to the floor, forgotten.

 

“Oooh!” he suddenly declared with glee.

 

“What?” Sakura breathed in confusion, her eyes hazy with arousal as she tilted her head to look down at the man between her legs.

 

“I didn’t notice _this_ before…” he hummed in delight as he ran a calloused thumb over the delicate tattoo of a cherry blossom on her hip.

 

“Oh, I’m not surprise-oooh...” she started softly before she was cut off by him sensually running his tongue across the ink, “...not surprised you didn’t with how busy we were…”

 

He pressed a few delicate kisses to the soft skin of her belly before he nipped the tender flesh below her navel. She groaned in surprise, her fingernails digging into the skin of his shoulder and the leather of his cut.

 

“I wonder what other little secrets you have…” he hummed against her skin before sliding his tongue across his lovebite.

 

“I guess you’ll just have to find out,” she purred.

 

He looked up at her with a wild smirk before wrapping his arms under her rear and easily lifting her back into his arms.

 

“It’s obviously my fault for not being attentive enough to you before…” he decided as he re-entered the hallway and carried her towards one of the final rooms in his house

 

“You can make it up to me,” she whispered as she cradled his face in her hands and pressed her lips to his, spoiling him with her affectionate kisses once again.

 

The Uchiha toed open the second to last door and used his free hand to flip the lightswitch. A meticulously clean yet simple bathroom was revealed. The plainness of the porcelain toilet, white counter tops, white bath/shower combo, and spotless off-white tiles was only offset by a silver lined medicine cabinet, a wine colored shower curtain, and a matching bathroom rug.

  
He broke their kiss just long enough to mutter "Bathroom.”

 

Resuming their kiss, he set her on the edge of the counter and reached behind him to blindly tug off her socks. A job made more difficult by the fact she refused to unwind her legs and let him escape from the heat between her thighs.

 

She did release her hold on his neck so she could slide her hands down his chest. She tugged his shirt out from between their bodies so she could run her hands underneath the cloth and across the bare skin of his chest. As they shared a passionate kiss, tongues sliding against one another, she dragged her fingernails across his flesh. He gripped her hips so he could grind himself against her barely clothed core, his rock hard member straining against the rough fabric of his jeans.

 

When Sakura moaned into his mouth, Madara wasted no time in scooping her into her arms and carrying her to the final room in his home.

 

He flipped on the lights, illuminating his bedroom. His most private sanctuary was decorated simply, a king sized bed with a garnet colored blanket and pillows being the dominate feature. A couple nightstands stood on either side of the bed, both holding lamps which were the sole source of light for the room. A wooden chest sat at the foot of his bed, a dresser stood at one side of the room, and a closet with mirrored sliding doors at the other.

 

She didn’t seem to care about his home anymore. Instead, she seemed far more concerned with getting underneath his clothes.

 

"Bedroom," he finished, his voice deep from arousal, as he set her down on the edge of the bed.

 

Madara pushed her down against the blankets before slipping his fingers under the waistband of her panties. He paused for a moment, grinning wolfishly as he finally realized that she had worn a cherry red thong.

 

“For me?” he purred as he slid the strip of cloth down her thighs.

 

“Maybe,” Sakura teased as she lifted her rear so he could pull off her last article of clothing.

 

“You spoil me.” _And I intended to spoil her._

 

He leaned over her, his wild hair forming a curtain around them, and kissed her deeply once again. His lover’s hands immediately smoothed against his chest before he grinded himself against her bare core and drew a shaky gasp from her.

 

The arousing dichotomy of her being completely naked while he remained fully clothed wasn’t lost on him. Just imagining how it must look, her nude and wrapped around him while he was still dressed in his jeans and cut, had blood traveling southward.

 

The Uchiha pulled back so he could press an open mouthed kiss to her throat. She sighed in ardor as he continued his trip downward, lavishing her with kisses and gentle love bites as his long hair teased her skin. His hands smoothed across her creamy flesh, cupping her breasts and running the pads of his thumbs across her hardened nipples.

 

As he passed down her breasts, circled his tongue around her navel, and nipped at the delicate skin of her belly, his hands slid down her sides.

 

He grasped her muscled thighs in his hands, spreading her legs even farther and revealing her center to him once again. Hooking her thighs over his shoulders, he kissed the insides of her knees, the leather of his cut crinkling as she pulled him closer. As he slowly kissed his way towards her center, the heady, feminine scent of her arousal washed over him. His cock twitched in his pants at the evocative scent.

 

When he bit the inside of her thigh, she gasped and her legs tensed around his shoulders. He smirked against her skin before planting an open mouthed kiss to her clit.

 

Sakura released a pained sounding moan as she bucked against his mouth. His lips and tongue moved against her most sensitive place, carefully easing her into the pleasure. His bangs tickled the tender skin of her belly and nearly concealed him from her. Her fingers dug into his wild mane of hair, holding him against her. When he groaned against her clit, her hips twitched against his mouth.

 

Madara grabbed onto her hips, digging his fingers into the tender flesh, as he dragged his tongue across her sopping opening, tasting her arousal. She gasped when he dipped his tongue inside of her only to return to her hardened nub.

 

Dragging one of his hands away from her hips, he snuck it beneath his chin. As he slipped a finger into her depths, drawing a keen of pleasure from his lover, his free hand caressed the skin of her hip and thigh.

 

He easily slipped another finger into her soaking opening, her body relaxed in his lustful embrace. He leisurely pumped his fingers into her, rapidly bringing her to her precipice.

 

When he sealed his lips around her clit and sucked, his lover cried out in ecstasy. Her fingers tightened in his hair almost painfully as she came, her channel squeezing around his fingers. She shook in his arms, her hips bucking against his lips, as he felt her arousal drip down his fingertips. After her intense climax, he gradually eased up until he was gently circling his tongue around her clit and bringing forth further, gentler waves of her orgasm.

 

He slid his fingers out of her, lapping his tongue against her dripping opening with a hum of satisfaction. When he dragged his tongue across her clit again, she squeaked and held him back with her thighs. He looked up at her, making eye contact with her from between her thighs and through his obsidian bangs, and smirked at her heated blush.

 

“Too much?” The Uchiha purred, pressing a wet kiss to her inner thigh without looking away from her eyes. He licked his lips slowly, cleaning her slick fluids from his mouth before he made a show of sucking his fingers clean.

 

“I just want to feel you inside of me this time,” Sakura finally breathed desperately, her lover’s already painfully hard member straining in his jeans.

 

“If that’s what you desire,” he hummed, sliding her thighs off of his shoulders so he could stand.

 

“And for you to take off your damned shirt,” she tacked on with a pleasure-dazed smile as she sat up to grasp the edges of his cut, running her fingers down the zippered edges until she released him.

 

He chuckled deeply as he shucked off his cut and turned to carefully hang it on one of the hooks in his closet. He grabbed the back of his shirt, tugging it over his head and dropping it onto the floor carelessly.

 

When he turned back to face her, he noticed Sakura’s gaze flick up from where she had been looking at his lower back. He held his breath, berating himself internally, when he realized she had spotted the handgun tucked into the holster in the waistband of his jeans. He worried that she would be intimidated and that he would scare her away due to his carelessness.

 

He was surprised when he noticed that instead of showing any ounce of concern, she appeared to be that much more turned on. She rubbed her thighs together and bit her lip as her eyes dragged up his tattooed chest.

 

Madara breathed out in relief before returning to the space between her thighs, a place she eagerly accepted him back into. Pressing a heated kiss to her lips, he felt a thrill of arousal as her hands explored the defined muscles of his chest and abdomen.

 

As she explored, he unbuttoned and unzipped his jeans, his weeping member eagerly bouncing out. With the handgun weighing down his jeans, his pants easily slid down to the floor where he stepped out of them. Her dainty hand wrapped around his throbbing length, drawing a pleasured hiss from him as he bucked into her hand.

 

As Sakura slowly pumped him, she began pressing tender kisses to his neck and chest. Her free hand skimmed across the planes of muscles of his chest as she continued lavishing him with her honeyed kisses. She was being so sweet and gentle with him, much like how she had been at the bar, that it hurt.

 

Madara gently pushed her away from him and back against the blankets. She followed the motion, dragging her fingernails down his chest as she went. He followed her onto the bed, sealing their lips together as he spread her legs wide around him.

 

One of his hands slipped between her thighs, his fingers slipping into her passage once again to gather her dew onto his fingertips. She moaned against his mouth, allowing him to slip his tongue between her lips. She happily met him, despite the taste of her on his tongue, as her arms snaked around his neck, holding him close.

 

He removed his fingers from her so he could wet the head of his weeping cock and prepare himself for her. When he settled against her, the tip of his member pressed against her folds, she mewled against his lips. He buried himself into her slowly, filling her to the brim with one long thrust. She arched against him, breaking their kiss so she could cry out in pleasure.

 

As he pulled out and sunk back into her, her legs circled around his waist. Her hips tilted with the movement, allowing him even deeper passage into her. He slowly increased his pace, focusing on keeping himself from cumming from how aroused he already was. He wanted to grab onto her hips and just slam into her until he found his release but, more than that, he wanted to feel as she rose to the peak of rapture around him and lose himself in her bliss.

 

When Sakura’s moans increased in volume, Madara decided to make good on his promise from before. He pressed a few heated kisses to her throat before sinking his teeth into her neck. She cried out in pleasure, her heels digging into his lower back and demanding he fuck her harder. He happily obliged, his hands sneaking under her to grasp at her shoulders. He used his grip to fill her even harder, his lover’s groans encouraging him.

 

He sealed his lips around his lovebite, sucking hard so he could leave another bruise on her creamy skin. She breathed indistinct cries of ecstasy as her fingernails clawed at his back, sending rushes of arousal through his veins.

 

He released the skin of her neck, running his tongue across the wound he had left behind. Her fingers snaked into his hair, drawing him back against her throat and silently demanding he continue. A pleasure mad smirk spread across his lips as he fulfilled her wish, biting into the sensitive skin of her neck once again. She moaned as she began to meet his thrusts with frenzied bucks of her own.

 

When Sakura came the second time, her entire body trembled in his arms. He let loose a shuddering breath as her passage fluttered around him. Her grip in his hair tightened and her fingernails dug into his back so hard he knew she was going to leave marks. He finally released the desperate hold he had maintained on his own arousal and immediately came within her.

 

Madara groaned deep in his throat as he nipped at her shoulder, thrusting into her as deeply as he could and emptying himself within her. He held her against him tight as he filled her with his seed, his member flexing inside of her as he came. He ground his hips against her clit, drawing another spasm and a groan from his lover.

 

Finally finished emptying himself in her, he pulled back, his slowly softening member still buried in her folds. His hands slid down to grip her hips and keep him seated in her as he sat up on his knees. He panted as he admired her flushed, heaving chest, the bruises coming to the surface on her neck and shoulder, and his length still buried within her.

 

Sakura looked down at him, making eye contact, and smirked mischievously.

 

“See something you like?” she teased, still catching her breath.

 

The Uchiha chuckled deeply. “Everything.”

 

“Hmm, good answer,” she purred, smiling wider as she moved to sit up.

 

His member slipped out of her as she sat up onto her knees, her cat like smile widening as her gaze purposefully slipped downward. His cum slick cock pulsed as her head dropped down and as her hand wrapped around the base of his shaft. His breath caught in his chest when she ran her tongue from the base of his half hard member up to the head.

 

She circled her tongue around the head of his length before wrapping her lips around his tip. He sucked in a breath through his teeth as she continued to circle her tongue around him, sucking gently. She slowly took more of his rapidly hardening member into her mouth, meticulously cleaning their shared arousal off of him with her tongue.

 

He groaned deep in her chest when she removed her hand, pleasuring him with only her mouth. He watched in amazed disbelief as her lips travelled passed the border her fingers once made, his hips twitching as he felt his tip slip deep into her mouth.

 

She pulled all the way back, circling her tongue around his tip and sucking before taking him completely.

 

Madara released a shaky breath, trying to hold back the moan that threatened to escape his lips as he felt the head of his cock slide into Sakura’s throat.

 

He moved her hair out of her face and tangled his fingers in her locks so he could better watch as she took his entire length into her mouth, her nose brushing against his coarse curls.

 

“Sweet gods, woman…” he groaned as she palmed his balls, rolling them in her fingers.

 

His eyes snapped up to her toned ass swinging sensually before his gaze returned to her taking him all the way. She wasn’t even moving quickly, just affectionately and attentively drawing him into her throat and sucking him off. She pulled back to catch her breath, her tongue and lips teasing his tip, before sinking back down again.

 

“Sakura…” he grumbled, his voice deep with arousal, in an attempt to let her know he wasn’t going to last much longer. He had never felt anything like this and the overwhelmingly erotic sight of her deep throating him was more than he could bare.

 

Instead of pulling back like he had expected, her hand which had been palming his balls gripped the back of his thigh. She pumped him with her mouth a few times before sinking all the way down his cock and drawing him even farther into her throat. He took in a harsh breath as she swallowed around his length and dragged his release out of him.

 

Sakura continued to swallow around his pulsing length, her muscles stimulating him in a way he had never been before, as he came in her throat. Madara released a low groan as he bucked against her lips, his lover not even being phased as he sunk even deeper into her welcoming mouth. His fingers tightened in her hair, holding her against him, as he came in hard bursts. Her fingernails dug into his thigh as he dumped ejaculate down her throat.

 

Once he finally calmed and she pulled back, he immediately released her hair. Her lips kept a tight seal around his member as she slowly pulled away, cleaning her spit off of him. A line of saliva connected her mouth to his member, one which she severed as she licked her lips.

 

She panted, catching her breath and cleaning the edges of her lips with her fingertips, as she sat back on her knees. His member twitched, already desperate to be within her again, as he took in her swollen lips and truly realized what she had just done to him.

 

"Turn around,” the Uchiha commanded, his voice gravelly.

 

Sakura looked up at him, pausing as she wiped the corner of her lips off with her thumb, with an almost innocent looking expression.

 

Gods, he knew better now. There was nothing innocent about this hellion of a woman.

 

The corner of her lip quirked up, nearly hidden by her thumb, before she happily obeyed. She slowly spun around, revealing her glistening opening and a thin trail of cum seeping from her. He couldn’t care less that she had dripped onto his bedspread.

 

Madara pressed between her shoulderblades until she sunk down, holding herself up on her hands. He pushed even farther until she sunk down to her elbows, baring herself to him. As he slipped two fingers into her, his digits easily sliding into her hot passage, he pushed farther still until her chest was pressed into the mattress. She moaned into his bedspread as he pulled out his fingers to tease her clit.

 

As he drew rapid circles around her sensitive nub, Sakura spread her legs and bucked back against him with euphoric breaths. Despite having already came twice that night, his member was already eagerly hardening once again. He used his cum slick fingers to coat the head of his member before he immediately hilted himself within her.

 

She cried out in ecstasy, spreading her legs wide as she eagerly met his thrust. He dropped his hands on either side of her as he immediately set a fast pace. As he drove into her, he brought a hand in between her thighs to draw rapid circles around her clit.

 

Sakura barely muffled her moans into his blanket as her fingers fisted around his pillows. At this angle, he could once again feel the head of his member pressing against her innermost barrier as he filled her.

 

When Madara pulled his hands back so he could grip her hips, her own hand dropped between her legs to replace his. As he pounded into her, his hand slid across her rear so he could rub the tight ring of muscles of her rear opening with his thumb. Her moans sounded desperate as she bucked back against him roughly.

 

He groaned deep in his throat. “Like that, hellcat?”

 

Sakura made a noise of agreement as she pressed her hips back against him. He hissed in pleasure as he wet his pointer finger in his mouth, never relenting in his thrusts. He rubbed his saliva slick finger against her rear opening, drawing a gasp of pleasure from his lover, before dipping his finger into her. Her breathing stuttered as she thrust back against him, her passage twitching around his length.

 

Madara gently thrust his wet finger into Sakura’s ass as his unyielding cock filled her ceaselessly. She braced herself against his headboard to met his thrusts even harder, her moans increasing in volume. She came with a cry, both of her passages squeezing around him. Her tight ring of muscle rhythmically clutched around his finger in perfect time with her fluttering feminine passage.

 

He slipped his finger from her so he could drop his hands to either side of her and lean over her. As she continued to draw out her own bliss, her channel clenching around him, he set a brutal pace. Every thrust touched her deepest place and drew a twitch of pleasure from his still orgasming lover.

 

When he finally finished, it was with a deep groan as he spilled himself against her welcoming wall. Her plush inner barrier cradled the head of his dick and her passage caressed his throbbing length as he came as deeply inside of her as he could manage.

 

As they both relaxed, Madara’s bruising grip on her hips loosened and she pulled her hand back from her clit. They both tried to catch their breath, still wrapped up in the most intimate of embraces.

 

When he finally slipped out of her, his lover sunk against the bed spread until she was lying flat on her belly. He huffed out a laugh as he brushed her damp hair to one side of her neck. He caged his arms around her and leaned down to gently kiss the bruised skin on her bare shoulder, his wild mane forming a curtain around them.

 

"That... that was amazing..." she panted.  
  
The Uchiha chuckled. "Good... there's far more where that came from."

 

Sakura smiled sweetly into the blankets, eyes still closed, as she blindly reached up to thread her fingers into his raven hair. His smirk warmed into a smile, his heartbeat quickening as an unfamiliar warmth settled in his chest.

 

He pressed another kiss to her shoulder before nuzzling her neck affectionately.

 


	4. Old Lady

When Madara finally returned to consciousness that morning, he was immediately aware of the lack of the warmth that had been pressed against him that night.

 

His eyes flicked open the moment he realized Sakura was no longer curled up against him. After blinking to clear his vision and to try to clear away the discomfort in his eyes, the finally crisp sight before him only reinforced the fact she was gone.

 

The opposite side of his bed was empty. As usual.

 

He tilted his head to face the opposite end of his bedroom, noting that her clothes were also gone from the floor. Or at least her panties were, as the rest of her clothes had been deposited in various rooms around the house the night before.

 

He had thought that her interest in the rooms of his home meant an interest in him, beyond the sex. Apparently not. She had probably woke up before him, realized where she was and what she had done a second time, and got an Uber home or something.

 

‘ _Why are you surprised?_ ’ The Uchiha thought, the tone of his inner dialogue as sharp and ruthless as usual, _‘She’s young. She’s beautiful. Women like her don’t stick around for men like you. They just come to get their kicks, sleeping with the scary biker, before taking off…_ ’

 

He sat up, his still uncomfortable eyes slowly drifting over to the spot on his bed that Sakura had occupied that night. His hand slid across the sheets she once laid on, the fabric long cold.

 

As he gazed at the empty half of his bed, his mind replayed the events of that night, after their sexual high had ran out and exhaustion was all that remained.

 

* * *

 

After laying a dozen affectionate kisses along Sakura’s spine and basking in the feeling of her running her fingers through his unmanageable hair with an ease that distantly baffled him, she lightly tapped one of the arms that still caged her against the bed.

 

Madara rolled over to his side, allowing her to slide out of his embrace and to her feet. With a brief explanation of “back in a sec”, she padded in the direction of what he assumed to be the bathroom, offering him a view of her sculpted rear and legs.

 

As she disappeared from sight, Madara leaned back against his pillows and crossed his arms beneath his head. Humming in thought, he considered his next step. After all, when she returned, he expected her to have her clothes and to shyly state her want to go home.

 

As he waited, he weighed his options: whether he should give her a ride home himself or just call her a cab.

 

He wanted to take her himself to give himself some time to convince her to meet with him again. He wanted to see her again, even if it was just to repeat this night. Perhaps at her apartment next time?

 

As he thought, he seriously contemplated doing something he had done so few times in his life that he could count the number on one hand; he considered asking her to dinner.

 

There was no doubt in his mind that Sakura was the most satisfying lover he had ever had the pleasure of sharing a bed with, a fact that surprised him considering he was nearly two decades older than her. More than that, however, he could admit that he was captivated by the young woman. She had been a prominent figure in his thoughts ever since he met her and the time they had spent together had done little to sway his fascination in her.

 

She was nothing like what he had expected. He was curious about who his little hellcat was and he wanted to get to know her beyond how she liked to be fucked.

 

If she decided that she wanted a purely sexual relationship with him, he would be hard pressed to deny her. If she decided she simply wanted to be friends, he would sate himself with her company. If she decided she wanted to part ways, he would find a way to soothe his disappointment.

 

But the possibility that she would say yes, the possibility that they could share nights like this and even more together…

 

That settled it. He would give her a ride home himself and ask her to dinner when he dropped her off.

 

When Sakura finally reappeared, an arm wrapped around her petite breasts in an attempt at modesty, he had already planned out what he would say in response to her inevitably stating that she wanted to go home.

 

As he gathered the air into his lungs to fuel his offer to give her a ride home himself, Sakura stole his breath by confidently sliding across his blanket towards him and draping herself over his chest. Her lithe, warm body felt as soft as silk as she pressed against him and asserted her want to stay without words.

 

Madara immediately hooked his arm around her, perhaps too quickly, and pulled her closer to him. Her sigh of contentment as she cuddled up to him had a tightness constricting his chest. The smell of her shampoo as he pressed his nose to the crown of her head muddled his thoughts. The feeling of her lips brushing against his chest as she nuzzled his neck inspired the sensation of satisfaction within him.

 

His planned words completely forgotten, he greedily basked in her warmth.

 

He nearly shivered when her hand slid down his shoulder and as her delicate fingertips began to dance across his skin. It took him a long moment to realize that she was tracing the outline of the black and gray tattoo of a hawk which was inked across his pectoral.

 

“I think this one is my favorite…” she hummed, running the pads of her fingers across the tattoo as if to feel if there was a difference between his bare and his inked skin.

 

“What appeals to you about that one?” the Uchiha asked, curiosity coloring his tone.

 

“Hmm… well… Hawks symbolize awareness. Clear sightedness. A vision for a brighter future. I think that suits you well, considering how you look after your family... And considering all the new charities you and the club started since you took over,” she detailed, carefully tracing the feathers of the hawk, “I’m a big fan of the one where you auction off bikes to help cancer patients pay their hospital bills.”

 

“That’s… remarkably thoughtful of you.”

 

No one had ever complimented his tattoos in such an insightful fashion before. Normally he received half-baked replies that only considered whether or not the person personally liked the animal inked onto his skin or dull compliments on how ‘sexy’ his deeply significant tattoos were. Her knowledge of symbolism had impressed him in particular, him not having expected such a detailed response to his simple question at all.

 

“Also, I really like the placement,” Sakura admitted, a smirk in her voice as she dragged her fingernail across his built pectoral. She continued, tracing the path of the swooping hawk down towards the defined muscles of his abdomen.

 

Madara chuckled. “Ah, I knew you had an alternative reasoning.”

 

She giggled softly against his skin. A long yet comfortable silence stretched between them as her fingers continued to follow the dark lines painted into his skin. Her fingertips brushed down his chest to touch the black and gray tattoo of a wolf which dominated his left side. The ink spanned from the crest of his hip to his pectoral and curled out over his ribs.

 

Her hands drifted upwards until she began to explore the black and gray half sleeve of a tiger which decorated his muscled bicep. Since she couldn’t reach them with her curled up against him, she was unable to investigate the tattoos of the bull on his right arm or the bear on his right side but she settled on exploring the inked images of the hawk on his pectorals, the elk on his chest, and the wolf on his side.

 

“I get the feeling all of your tattoos have meanings…” she commented offhandedly, her voice slowly growing quieter as their conversation continued.

 

“They all do. Perhaps one day I’ll tell you what they mean,” he hummed against her hair as her exploring hand flattened across the tattoo of the hawk inked across his pectoral.

 

“I’d like that…” Sakura sighed sweetly as she nestled further into his chest.

 

He slowly ran his fingers through her hair, his eyes sliding shut as he savored her tender embrace.

 

The wild haired man wondered how long it would take before she wanted to go home. How long she wanted to steal his warmth before she became bored and wanted to leave or wanted more sex. While he certainly wouldn’t deny his hellion of a bed partner any pleasures she wanted of him, he could not recall the last time that he had been so thoroughly _cuddled_.

 

Her embrace sated some deep-seated longing for simple physical affection that had been neatly tucked away and thoroughly ignored for years. Simple sex had been an effective balm for this need but this young woman so sweetly curled up against him felt like a remedy.

 

Madara found himself hard pressed to remove himself from her embrace. He pondered how much longer he had to indulge in her warm body.

 

Women didn’t sleep with outlaw bikers and then stick around the cuddle of all things after all... Well, at least none of the women he was used to did.

 

His silent questions were answered by Sakura beginning to nod off in his arms. Baffled, he felt as her body became even more relaxed and heard as her breathing became deep and slow as she dozed off. A smile tugged at his lips when he realized that she intended to stay the night with him.

 

As carefully as one could when lying on top of the blankets and with a woman curled up against them, he flipped the switch next to his bed to turn off the lights and tugged down his sex rumpled blankets to cover them. As soon as he pulled his comforter over them, Sakura settled into the space between his sheets and against him as if the spot had been made for her.

 

She fell asleep and stayed asleep with practiced ease while he remained, unable to fall asleep for some time with the feeling of her peacefully dozing in his arms.

 

Despite the fact that all the lights were on in his house, illuminating a strip of light which snuck into his darkened bedroom, and the fact that he wasn’t certain he had even locked the door to his garage, nothing was going to pull him from that bed. From Sakura sleeping so peacefully in his embrace.

 

He could hardly remember the last time a woman had stayed the night at his home let alone the last time one had slept in his arms.

 

Sure, the wild haired man had shared his bed and… other places… with a number of women. He knew he was attractive and the member of a motorcycle club angle seemed to be a fetish for some women. He had taken full advantage of those facts when he had first become a full fledged member of the MC, back when his father was still alive and still the president.

 

The sex had been fun but he quickly noticed that few of the women he involved himself with ever stuck around. Some would cling to his arm at the bar or the clubhouse while others would stick around to try to get something out of him but very few had ever stuck around for more than a week and even fewer still had seen his home.

 

They never lingered or bothered to get to know him passed him being in an MC. Few ever showed an interest in being his old lady, despite being more than happy being taken to his bed, and the ones who did had always wanted to take advantage of his status. They wanted the scary biker boyfriend to scare off any previous lovers, to hook them up with their drug of choice, or to feed their power trip, as if becoming his old lady would make them queen of the MC.

 

They all made judgements on him based off of stereotypes. The ones who lingered certainly did but he wondered what the ones who left thought of him. If they left because they thought he was incapable of commitment, that he would be unfaithful, or that he would be abusive. All the farthest things from the truth.

 

The fact women rarely stuck around hadn’t bothered him too much during his wild younger years, but now…

 

Now that he was in his forties. Now that he felt a pang of envy when he remembered how madly in love his parents had been, so enamored by one another that they had had five children together. Now that he truly saw how happy Fugaku was with his loving wife, Mikoto, and their sons.

 

He craved more.

 

And with this strange woman, this beautiful and mysterious woman who was nothing like anyone he had ever met, sleeping in his bed...

 

Madara’s line of thought was interrupted by a sleepy snort from the woman fast asleep in his arms. He blinked in surprise before quietly chuckling to himself and wrapping himself around her tighter. Even her snores were oddly endearing.

 

It took longer than he cared to admit for his thoughts to slow and for him to calm down, slowly lulled into near sleep by Sakura’s warm body and soft noises. It was when he was on the brink of unconsciousness that she had moved in her sleep.

 

A warmth spread in his chest when she wrapped herself around him even tighter, her small hand grasping at his shoulders and her leg hooking high around his waist. It had been as if she was seeking him out even in her sleep, as if she needed to be closer to him.

 

His arms tightened around her instantly, his guarded heart clenching in his chest as it sputtered to life like a beat down motorcycle.

 

It took much longer to finally fall asleep after that.

 

* * *

 

Madara shook his head, dislodging his line of thinking as his eyes refocused on the empty space next to him. She hadn’t stayed.

 

‘ _You’re giving meaning to things that weren’t there. Just be happy she bothered with you a second time. At the very least, it means you’re good in bed. The only thing women like her want from old men like you is sex._ ’

 

He pulled his hand away from the spot she had once occupied with a disappointed sigh. He rubbed at his uncomfortable eyes once again before he finally realized the source of his discomfort: he had left his damn contacts in overnight again.

 

Standing from his spot on the bed, the Uchiha walked over to his dresser and pulled out a clean pair of jeans. He dragged them up to rest on his hips, not even bothering to zip them up. He leaned down to pick up his discarded pants from the floor, unclipping his holster from the back of the waistband. He tossed his dirty jeans into the laundry basket in his closet before depositing his handgun on top of his dresser.

 

He padded over to his nightstand to grab one of his pairs of glasses and, with another tired itch at his burning eyes, he trudged into his bathroom with a silent sigh.

 

After dropping off his glasses on the counter and relieving himself, he stood in front of his medicine cabinet and stared at his reflection. The same old face stared back at him, although the signs of his aging were becoming more noticeable to him every day. His ebony hair was still as wild and unmanageable as ever, something he wouldn’t even bother dealing with today, but the bags under his eyes were getting deeper. He noticed that frown lines were slowly making their appearance on his face and crow’s feet were already in the corners of his already tired eyes. His eyes were even bloodshot from his contacts agitating his eyes all night, making him look that much older.

 

He pulled open the medicine cabinet with more force than necessary, blocking out the thought that _he was too old for her anyways_ before the discomfort from it even registered. He fished out the fluid filled container for his contacts, placing it on the counter, and pawed into the shelves to grab his toothbrush and toothpaste.

 

He made quick work of brushing his teeth, washing his face, and pulling out his dry contacts. After rubbing the last of the discomfort from his eyes, dropping a couple drops of visine into his bloodshot orbs, and slipping on his glasses, he decided he would make himself something for breakfast. Afterwards, he would return to the bathroom for an actual shower so he could wash her scent off of his skin.

 

As he walked passed his bedroom, he briefly considered washing his sheets as well. It would be easier to fall asleep that night without her feminine scent bringing back memories of her affections.

 

When he stepped into his living room, the sight that greeted him nearly made him trip over his own bare feet in shock. Instead, he stopped moving entirely, suddenly rooted to the ground, and adjusted his glasses as if they were the cause of what he was seeing.

 

Normally most people would take pause at an attractive woman in daisy dukes leaning over provocatively… but seeing as it was _her_ , leaning over in _his_ living room, flipping through the channels on _his_ tv… he felt as if his stunned silence and rising giddiness as he stared at her in wonder was perfectly acceptable.

 

‘ _Sakura… she’s still here… She’s changing the channels with the cable box instead of using the remote… but she’s here,_ ’ his dazed mind slowly processed as he stared at her with an expression of shock decorating his face.

 

As if hearing his thoughts, and after settling on a news station babbling about some nonsense regarding a political scandal, Sakura turned to look over her shoulder at him.

 

Madara felt a little burst of pride as Sakura’s eyes briefly dipped down to his exposed chest and then farther down to the trail of hair leading into his still unzipped jeans. When she met his eyes again and smiled warmly, a blush lightening her cheeks, he couldn’t help but smile back.

  
"Good morning,” she greeted shyly before clearing her throat and gesturing to his television, “Uh, sorry I'm messing with your stuff... I’m wide awake at six AM on the dot no matter what I do. Comes from working at the hospital.”

 

His eyes flicked over to the clock in the corner of the news broadcast. 6:49 AM.

 

His brain slowly absorbed that she had been awake in his house while he had been asleep for nearly an hour. He had been about to comment that she could have just woken him up when his mind finally processed and immediately tripped over the word ‘hospital’.

 

“Hospital?” He parroted, surprised.

 

He gave himself a mental shake. He had been nearly certain that Sakura was some sort of a martial arts instructor or a personal trainer. The last thing he expected his hellcat to be was in healthcare.

 

“You work in the regional hospital?” He clarified cooly as he made his way into his kitchen, still regarding her over the bar, as he began looking for something to make for breakfast.

 

“Yes, I’m an RN and I work in the ER,” she explained as she followed him into the kitchen.

 

He turned to shoot her a surprised look, shocked to learn that not only was she a nurse but that she worked in the emergency room, before she continued with yet another startling fact.

 

“And I’m in medical school,” she subtly preened, leaning back against the bar that bridged his kitchen and living room.

  
"You're going to be a doctor?" He asked with a slowly growing grin, setting down the frying pan he had located on the stove as he turned to face her, giving her a full view of the ink, and the scars, he had gathered over the years.

  
"I am. I want to be a surgeon,” she replied with a smile and an endearing tilt of her head.

 

His smile turned into something more teasing as he took a step forward to cage her against the bar with his arms.

 

This woman truly was a goddess. A warrior to be reckoned with, exotically beautiful, talented in bed, apparently a genius if she was in medical school, made the cutest noises when she slept… which only left one question.

  
"And _here_ you are…” he hummed, gazing into her eyes as his subtle question hung in the air.

 

_What on earth is a woman like you doing with a man like me?_

  
"I never said that I didn't know how to have fun,” she sassed with a cheeky smirk, drawing a laugh from the elder man.

 

"Hmm… How old are you, Sa-ku-ra?"  
  
"Twenty five,” she answered simply, one of her hands wandering from its place on the bar to slide up his muscled forearm, exploring the black and gray tattoos decorating his skin. He nearly shivered as her fingertips continued to wander, drifting up to his shoulder before cutting a path down to the design on his chest.

 

She was young. Very young. But not too young. Although...

  
"Huh, you're older than my nephew,” he commented offhandedly, remembering that Sasuke was still only twenty-four.

  
"Same year, my birthday is in March,” Sakura explained, interrupting the Uchiha’s thoughts, before tacking on with an amused grin, “Naruto is the baby."  
  
"Naruto?" Madara questioned with a quirked brow.

 

"The blond one who hopped the fence the day we met. Him, Sasuke, and I are all childhood friends,” she clarified with a widening smile.

  
The Uchiha huffed in amusement. "I was sure that kid was going to get arrested."  
  
"He did, actually. I bailed him out the next day..."

 

Madara could hardly stifle his sudden laughter against her shoulder, unendingly amused that not only had the goofy blond from that night gotten arrested but that Sakura, who was a force to be reckoned with during the bar brawl and who had only escaped getting arrested herself by hitching a ride with the president of one of the biker clubs, was the one to bail him out.

 

Madara’s amusement was infectious, Sakura’s bell like laughter tinkling in his ear.

 

When their laughter finally subsided, he hummed in contentment before pressing a kiss to the skin of her exposed shoulder.

  
"And how old are you?" She asked in return, her fingertips tracing the line of his collarbone towards his throat.

  
"Forty one,” he answered as he tried to withhold the groan in danger of escaping his lips when her fingertip traced the line bisecting his pectorals and abdominal muscles and dipped dangerously far down his stomach.

 

"You're pretty spry for an old man,” she teased, a grin in her voice.

 

Madara bit her shoulder, drawing a startled eep and laughter from Sakura.

  
"Little witch,” he huffed against her neck, a smile pulling at the corners of his lips.

 

“You look really good in glasses though so I guess I can overlook it…” she continued as her hand flattened across the plane of muscle of his abdomen.

 

“Mhmm, just the glasses?” He chuckled against her ear before pulling back and gazing into her eyes with a sly smirk. "How do you like your eggs?"

  
"Sunny side up.”

  
"Sorry, I never learned how to do that. You're getting an omelet,” he replied, his grin widening at her suddenly irate expression.

  
"Hey, I don't even like omelets!"

  
He quirked a brow. “Who doesn’t like omelets?”

 

“Me!”

 

“Well, tough luck. Better get used to it…” Madara teased, his hands sliding from the bar to her waist, pulling her hips flush against his, “You're my old lady now.”

  
She raised an eyebrow, trying to appear unimpressed although a blush colored her cheeks. Her hand slid up from his chest to toy with a lock of his long hair. "Oh, and who decided that?"

  
"I did,” he admitted, his grin widening, “You seduced me on that back road by riding me on my bike but you really finished winning me over when you deep throated me last night.”

 

Sakura flushed hotly in embarrassment, her suddenly demure expression endearing to the Uchiha.

  
"I'm pretty sure I get a say in it,” she huffed, glaring up at him adorably as she twirled the lock of his ebony hair around her fingertips.

  
"Oh yes, of course you do. But you and I both know it's a yes.” His thumbs traced circles on the crests of her hips, distracting her.

  
"And what makes you say that?"  
  
"Because you like me. You’re curious about me. You want to know more about me...” The Uchiha paused. “And because of how many times I’ve made you cum."  
  
"So!? That doesn't mean I'll say yes!" she sputtered, gently tugging on the lock of hair wrapped around her finger just enough for him to feel it as she glared up at him.

  
"I can give you a repeat performance if that will help sway your vote..." he purred in response, dropping his forehead against hers and gazing into her eyes heatedly, “And my omelets are quite good. I may convert you yet.”

 

Sakura continued to blush, turning her head to look off to the side as if deep in thought. Her gaze flicked back to his half lidded onyx eyes.

  
"It just might help your case. And I have my doubts about the eggs," she nearly whispered.

 

Madara’s grin and glee was immediately as he leaned down, hooked her arms around the backs of her thighs, and hoisted her onto his shoulder. He laughed at her sudden yelp of alarm as he strode out of his kitchen.

 

“Hey, I am not a sack of potatoes!” She protested, her giggles cutting off her words, as he carried her back to bed.

 

* * *

 

Sakura leaned into the turn with Madara, just how Sasuke had taught her all those years ago when he had first learned how to ride a motorcycle and had taken her on a ride.

 

Her arms remained loosely looped around the elder Uchiha’s middle, her face pressed between his shoulder blades and containing his wild mane of hair. She basked in his unique scent as they rode, greedily taking in the masculine scent of leather and a warm, woodsy smell that reminded her of a bonfire.

 

Her eyes stared off at the passing buildings, unseeing, as she tried to enjoy the second ride that she had taken with him where they weren’t either making out or breaking the speed limit.

 

Her mind wandered to the elder male she clung to, her thoughts tumbling haphazardly in her mind as she thought about the previous night and the morning they had shared together.

 

Sakura fretted over what they were now.

 

The Uchiha had said that she was his old lady now, but she didn’t fully understand what that meant. She knew than the term old lady basically translated to wife but that couldn’t be accurate. She surmised that they were in some kind of a relationship now but what else? Was this a friends-with-benefits kind of arrangement? Were they exclusive? Were they dating?

 

She certainly couldn’t ask Sasuke…

 

Her thoughts continued to tumble as her keen mind analysed the events of that morning.

 

* * *

 

Sakura awoke that morning the same way she woke up every morning: the exact moment that 5:59am ticked over to 6am.

 

It took her a long moment to gather her wits when she opened her eyes and realized that she was not in her own bed at her apartment. And not just that, but that she was not alone, based on the set of arms tightly wrapped around her middle and the warm chest against her back.

 

Confusion made it’s home within her when her emerald eyes finally focused and she was met with her own reflection. She gazed into the mirrored closet doors across from her, staring at her face peeking out from beneath the blankets and the mess of black hair behind her.

 

It only took one moment longer for her sleepy mind to come together and for her to realize where it was that she had woken up and who she had woken up with.

 

Her heart rate sped up when she realized that she was so securely wrapped up in the arms of Madara. The man she had had a one night stand with just a week previous and who she had happily returned to that previous night. The man who had made himself at home in her mind for the entire week, his presence a constant in all of her thoughts and fantasies. The man who had so thoroughly satisfied her that previous night.

 

A satisfied smile spread across her lips as she happily sunk back into the blankets and further into the embrace of the Uchiha. She sighed contentedly as she felt the heat from his broad chest seep into her back and the strength in his muscled arms wrapped around her middle. She could feel his warm breath on the crown of her head and the feeling of his chest rising and falling against her with his relaxed breathing.

 

Sakura wished she could just go back to sleep, wrapped up in this cocoon of blankets with the unbearably handsome man who continued to fascinate her, but knew that she was incapable of such a thing. She hadn’t slept in nearly as late as she had the first night they had spent together and blamed the lack of alcohol the previous night. She had barely gotten in a sip of her fruity drink before the Uchiha had caged her against the bar and distracted her with his lips and teeth.

 

She wondered if she should wait until he woke up himself or if she should wake him up...

 

Sakura was hard pressed to cut this warm, tender embrace short. She felt so contented, protectively wrapped up in the arms of the man who had been so meticulous and attentive when stoking her pleasure and her affection that night. She couldn’t remember the last time she had felt this sated, this secure. Never had a man so thoroughly satisfied her.

 

While she hated to wake him and cut her sorely needed cuddles short, if she woke him, he would be inside of her again that much faster... At least she suspected he would be partial to a bit more bed play. After all, she was certain she had astounded him when she had deep throated him the night before, revealing one of her hard won talents from her chest of sexual tricks. Just as he had blown her away with his skilled tongue and teeth.

 

She sighed in satisfaction, her eyes sliding shut as she settled more fully into his warm embrace. She wondered how she would go about waking him. She could turn around in his embrace and pepper his chest and throat with kisses. She could gently drag her fingernails across his abdomen, carefully dipping farther and farther down. She could busy herself tracing the stunning artwork inked into his skin...

 

A sudden stray thought had her eyes snapping open and her heart racing for a much less pleasurable reason.

 

Did he even want her to be around when he woke up?

 

Sakura had shared a bed with a number of men in the past and had had mixed experiences over the years. She had been with men who had obsessed over her, men who had loved her, men who she still considered friends, and men who had just wanted sex.

 

She was no fool, she knew what this… liaison with Madara had started as. Just two people finding pleasure within each other, spurred on by a rush of adrenaline and endorphins. While there was no shame in what they had shared, it left her conflicted over what they were now. They had shared another night together and the fact that they hadn’t spoken much beyond how much they wanted to fuck each other left her in the dark over what to expect now.

 

She didn’t know what she wanted but she knew that she greatly enjoyed his body and was surprised to find that the mind within had fascinated her as well. She knew that she was incredibly curious about the man who had shattered her every expectation. She knew she wanted to get to know him better, to explore this new found companionship a bit farther than mindless sex.

 

But what about Madara? Sakura certainly wouldn’t be too opposed to a kind of friends-with-benefits arrangement with the sexually skilled male, although she would feel some distant disappointment at not having a chance at something more…

 

In that moment, however, she had no idea where to draw the line. What were they? What were their boundaries? What boundaries did you draw with the president of a motorcycle club anyways?

 

First and foremost in her mind, however, was whether or not she was even welcome to be around that morning.

 

Her eyes drifted across the furniture and the decorations in his bedroom, finally taking in the room for the first time, as her panic rose in her chest.

 

Should she leave? The way he had spoke last night, how she could explore his house in the morning, had sounded like he wanted her to stay the night. But he has also said it while carrying her into his home after she has spent the entire trip to his house stoking his arousal. Was she wrong in assuming he had wanted her there? Had she pushed the boundaries of their “relationship”?

 

Her anxiety finally pulled her from bed. She carefully snuck out of the Uchiha’s embrace, actively ignoring how his fingers clung to her, as if to pull her back into his arms. She looked around for a moment before spotting her panties on the floor and quickly slipped them back onto her hips.

 

Sakura anxiously looked back towards the ebony haired man, her mind flailing as her eyes took in his still sleeping form.

 

Madara wouldn’t have let her fall asleep, wouldn’t have held her like he did, wouldn’t have said what he said if he didn’t want her to stay… right?

 

She stood in the middle of the unfamiliar bedroom, her arms wrapped around her stomach and across her breasts, as she fretted. After a couple uncomfortable minutes passed, she suddenly became incredibly self conscious. Gods forbid he woke up and saw her having a crisis while standing in his bedroom in her panties. He would probably think she was insane…

 

She couldn’t sneak back into bed with him and pretend this never happened, as if she could fall asleep with this anxiety ripping through her. Resigned, she simply slunk out of his bedroom.

 

Deciding to get dressed, Sakura wandered from room to room, searching for her clothes and gathering them in her arms as she located them. When she found her boots, haphazardly dumped onto the floor and standing next to his much larger copies, she paused.

 

What was she doing? Was she going to leave once she got dressed? Without even talking to him?

 

The Uchiha was a biker after all… He was probably expecting her to be gone when he woke up. He would probably be upset that she had stayed… right?

 

Shaking her head, she popped into his garage to grab her purse from the saddlebag of his bike. She was careful not to scratch his bike or accidentally push it, not wanting to damage the biker's most precious possession.

 

Her eyes briefly darted to the truck parked in the garage, surprised he even owned a vehicle, before she returned into his house. She took her purse and bundle of clothes and darted into his bathroom. She quickly relieved herself and got dressed before standing in front of the medicine cabinet. She stared into her reflection and saw her inner struggles reflected on her face.

 

Should she stay or should she go?

 

If Sakura was honest with herself, she wanted to stay. She wanted to get to know this man better, to pursue this new companionship that had unexpectedly sparked between them.

 

Part of her, however, was frightened. Not of him exactly, although he was undoubtedly a violent man. She had spotted his handgun the night before, neatly tucked into a holster in the back of his jeans. She had noticed it that morning as well, still secured in the holster clinging to his jeans on the floor of his bedroom. She hadn’t been able to find it in herself to care then, but now?

 

She sighed deeply before attempting to fix her hair and makeup as best she could. She had only worn mascara and some concealer the night before but tried to fix the smudges. She checked her breath before grimacing.

 

Fishing out a small travel toothbrush and a tiny tube of toothpaste from the depths of her purse, she used the sink to start brushing her teeth. As she brushed, her eyes returned not to her reflection but the medicine cabinet itself.

 

Knowing it was a huge breach of personal space, she considered the cabinet. A part of her expected to find something illicit within. She wondered if the cabinet was full of prescription drugs he was abusing or maybe another gun.

 

Toothbrush hanging from her mouth, she reached forward. Her hand hesitated along the door of the medicine cabinet. Some distant, overly imaginative part of her wondered if it was somehow trapped. Once she realized how asinine that thought was, she popped open the mirrored door.

 

Only to be incredibly underwhelmed by what she found.

 

It certainly wasn’t full of guns or drugs like she had thought. At least not the drugs she had suspected, anyways. She did spot a few miscellaneous bottles and tubes of medicine for treating headaches, dry eyes, heartburn, insect bites, and allergies. She found a multivitamin, a sleep aid, and even an aged anti-anxiety medication that actually had his name on it as well.

 

Instead of being filled with things she would associate with the leader of a 1% MC, the contents of the cabinet were decidedly ordinary. She noticed a single tooth brush in a holder, a tube of toothpaste, a bottle of mouthwash, a roll of dental floss… and a container for contacts? He wore contacts?

 

She blinked as her curious perusal continued.

 

A can of shaving cream, a razor, a bottle aftershave, a bottle of cologne... Sakura paused at the cologne, her eyes lingering on the unfamiliar brand and name. She shamelessly opened the glass bottle and took a whiff only to immediately swoon. Sweet lords, it was that fantastic, bonfire-ish, woodsy smell that clung to him. Gods, this existed?

 

She replaced the bottle, making a mental note of the name. Her eyes skimmed over the rest of the contents of the medicine cabinet. A hair brush, tweezers, fingernail clippers, emery boards, cue tips, antibacterial spray, a box of bandaids, hair ties stored around a tube of deodorant…

 

A sudden shame overcame Sakura as she gazed into the very normal medicine cabinet. Madara was just a man, not some stereotype… He wasn’t just some scary, but sexy, biker. He was a three dimensional person, just like her.

 

In that moment, she made up her mind. She was determined to stick around and talk to him. After all, what was the worst that could happen? He’d tell her to go home?

 

A sudden clenching in her stomach told her that was the last thing she wanted. Not just because that would be an embarrassing situation to have to repeat but that he had perked her curiosity. He made her feel sexy, wanted, and had shown her a kind of affection after a hookup that no one ever had…

 

Sakura finished brushing her teeth and threw on some deodorant and perfume from her purse. As she stared into the depths of her bag, she wished she had had the foresight to put some makeup in it.

 

She turned off the lights as she exited the bathroom. When she walked passed Madara’s bedroom, she peeked in.

 

The wild haired Uchiha had yet to wake up, although he was now unconsciously reaching out towards the spot she had once occupied. As if he was looking for her in his sleep, as if he-

 

‘ _Stop,_ ’ Sakura thought with a sudden vehemence, forcibly derailing her own thoughts, ‘ _This was just a hookup, don’t put feelings in someone else’s head…_ ’

 

She briefly considered waking him up but felt like it would be incredibly strange with her now fully dressed and cleaned up and him still sex rumpled and naked and…

 

Sakura bit her lip as her gaze dragged across his form, taking in his wild hair, his built abdomen, and the tattoos and scars that decorated his body. Sweet lords he was so goddamn sexy...

 

She immediately regretted sneaking out of bed as she gazed at the sleeping man. She could be naked and in his arms right now but her damn self consciousness had dragged her out of bed…

 

Having made her decision to stick around, she felt like an idiot for having abandoned the ebony haired man.

 

Madara sighed in his sleep as he stretched out even farther. He rolled over onto his stomach, the blankets drifting down until they loosely hung on his hips. As his arm relaxed to hang off the edge of the bed, having not found her beside him in his unconscious stretching, her eyes flicked to his back. His wild mane had parted just enough for her to spot the only colored tattoo on his body: a tattoo of the Uchiha MC crest inked between his shoulder blades.

 

Sakura withheld a groan as the symbol brought her back to the night before. She could still remember seeing their reflection in his mirrored closet doors. The erotic sight of him, kneeling between her legs, still fully clothed and with the clan crest on his cut bright in her mind, as he ate her out with a passion and skill she had never experienced in her life. The memory sent a rush of pleasure through her body, her clit tingling needily. The memory of him pleasuring her would stay with her until the day she died.

 

She wondered if she should… nope, walk away.

 

She’d just politely wait in his living room and hope he woke up soon. And if not… she’d figure out something then.

 

The young woman shyly ventured back into the living room, taking in everything she had missed during her first pass through the house. She dropped her purse onto the couch before she wrapped her arms around her middle, uncomfortable. She lingered in the center of the living room as her ears buzzed from the absolute silence of the house. Rocking on her heels, she nervously glanced around.

 

Her eyes flicked across the furniture and decorations, absorbing the small details she hadn’t even noticed before. The frayed edges of the faded decorative flag of the Uchiha MC crest that hung across the wall that indicated that the flag was a very old piece. The contents of the entertainment center below his flat screen tv: a satellite box, a DVD player, a well-worn old video game console from before she was born, the newest gaming system, and a stack of brand new video games still in their packaging. The numerous book shelves packed to the brim with dvds, old video games for the ancient gaming system, and a vast variety of books.

 

Curiosity peaked, Sakura tore herself from where she had been rooted in Madara’s silent living room to investigate the bookshelves. As her gaze drifted across the books, she noticed that a good portion of the books were yellowing manuals for a variety of motorcycles, vehicles, and other machines. The shelves contained a wide array of other books, from autobiographies to comics, from novels (was that Jiraiya's newest book?) to poetry, from how-to guides to cookbooks, and everything in between.

 

She smiled as she noticed a series of manga which were set in a world filled with ninjas, a story that she herself was fond of as well.

 

Sakura was especially surprised by the fact that an entire bookshelf was overflowing with heavy textbooks detailing every subject she could think of. An impressive assortment of various sciences, mathematics, engineering, psychology, philosophy, astronomy, criminal justice, economics, anatomy and physiology, everything she could think of. The vast majority of his textbooks detailed one subject in particular: history.

 

As she stared at the numerous books in amazement, she wondered if he had a degree. She admittedly knew nothing about this man, having heard very little from Sasuke, Itachi, Shisui, or Izumi over the years. The more she looked around, the more she realized he was nothing like what she thought he was… Even asleep, he continued to shatter her expectations of him.

 

Sakura’s gaze flicked to above the bookshelves and her silent question from before was answered. Her jaw dropped.

 

Madara didn’t have a degree. He had _five_ degrees.

 

Two Master’s Degrees hung on the wall proudly, the words History and Mechanical Engineering printed along them in a delicate script. Below the two outstanding achievements hung a neat row of three Bachelor’s Degrees. The words Education, Mathematics, and English were printed along the framed pieces of paper in the same flowing script as the first two.

 

She gaped at the proof of his dedication to learning with an expression akin to wonder. Her amazement only compounded when she caught sight of a thick stack of papers that looked suspiciously like more degrees. Her suspicions were confirmed when she read the top page and realized it was an Associates in Psychology. The five degrees on his wall weren’t even all the ones in his collection then, they were just his favorites.

 

Sakura had never felt more uneducated in her life. She had considered herself to be a very educated woman. She held a Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing and was working on her Doctorate in Medicine after all. But seeing the decades of higher education hanging on the Uchiha’s wall and carelessly tossed into a stack on his bookshelf made her feel like a high school dropout.

 

Shaking her head in disbelief, she continued her perusal. Was this man even fucking _real_?

 

Emboldened by the information she had gained through her snooping, she felt less embarrassed about continuing her exploration. She continued along the wall and stopped in front of a section dedicated to displaying dozens of framed photos. Her eyes flicked across the photos, recognizing some of the people while others remained a mystery.

 

Sakura spotted a photo of what looked like a much younger Madara sitting around in a mechanic shop with five other men. One looked nearly identical to Sasuke, even more so with the man in the picture having such short hair, so she figured it must be Izuna Uchiha. She didn’t recognized the other four men but assumed, by their builds, ages, and how close they all seemed, that they were Madara’s brothers and possibly father.

 

Sasuke had never mentioned having more than two uncles… Maybe the other men were more of Sasuke’s cousins then?

 

Continuing in her snooping, Sakura’s eyes settled on the largest picture of them all. The photo was of maybe a hundred Uchiha all together, lined up in tiers like a school photo. While they all had different expressions and poses - some giving the camera the finger, some smiling, some dead faced, some had their arms folded, some had their arms wrapped around each other - the sea of dark haired men and women all shared one thing in common: they all wore the Uchiha MC cut.

 

She spotted Itachi, Shisui, and Izumi near the middle, Shisui holding them all together in a group hug. Izumi was laughing, Shisui’s face was dominated by his classic megawatt grin, and Itachi was smiling his contented half smile. She soon spotted Madara himself in the dead center, a smirk on his face and his arms folded across his chest. Obito stood to his right, his expression neutral, and Izuna stood to his left with a half smile.

 

Sakura had never fully grasped how large Sasuke’s family was. She realized that the picture she was looking at only showed the members of the MC and not the hundreds of other Uchiha who weren’t in the club.

 

Who knew there were so many of them…

 

Her perusal continued, her eyes settling on a picture of Madara with the scarred, one armed man Obito that Sasuke had warned her about a week ago. They both looked much, much younger, Madara perhaps her age and Obito appearing to be in his teens. The elder Uchiha looked stupidly attractive, his incredibly muscular body emphasized by a grease splattered sleeveless top and his cut. Obito was perched on a motorcycle, his one remaining hand holding onto the handlebar. Madara had an arm thrown around his shoulders affectionately, a wide smile on his face. Despite the dark circles under Obito’s one visible eye, the other covered with an actual eyepatch, an equally huge smile was spread across his face.

 

Sakura couldn’t help but smile as well, touched by how Madara and all the Uchihas deeply cared for and respected Obito despite his disability.

 

She spotted another photo with the Uchiha MC president and his brother as teenagers. Both brothers sat on a familiar looking couch, a toddler perched in Izuna’s lap and a newborn baby cradled in Madara’s arms. A very young man who she recognized as Fugaku had his arms wrapped around both men, pulling the two younger Uchiha in like brothers.

 

The toddler and the baby must have been Itachi and Sasuke then? She never realized how cute of a kid Itachi had been.

 

She also finally got a feel for how much older Madara was than her as she looked at a picture of him, already a man, holding a newborn Sasuke. He had to be nearly two decades her senior.

 

Instead of feeling abashed, not just by the fact he was nearly double her age but because he was her best friend’s uncle, the realization had the opposite effect...

 

The familiar sight of a cap and gown caught her attention and her gaze focused onto another photo. Madara stood, dressed in his graduation garb and holding his Master’s Degree in History for the camera to see. The older man dressed in the MC’s cut that Sakura had suspected was his father had his arm thrown around Madara’s shoulders. A stunningly elegant looking women, also dressed in the Uchiha MC’s cut, was plastering a kiss to Madara’s cheek. The wild haired man looked embarrassed but joyous, all three Uchiha’s overjoyed as they celebrated Madara’s academic success.

 

Sakura couldn’t shake the smile that had made it’s home on her face as she browsed through the photos. Each snapshot from his life, each object in his home, revealed more about him to her. He was an intellectual, he was well educated, he cherished his family above all things…

 

As she continued, a very old picture, the yellowing edges an indication of it’s age, caught her eye. She barely recognized the man who she assumed was Madara’s father with how incredibly young, perhaps in his early twenties, he looked in the photo. The stunningly beautiful woman from Madara’s graduation picture sat in the man’s lap, both of them taking up the entirety of a small armchair. Her oddly familiar head of wild hair hung around her like a dark halo as she gazed at the man with adoration. They were both laughing, half finished drinks in their hands, and appeared to be absolutely smitten with one another.

 

A sudden unease overcame her as she stared at the two people obviously deeply in love. She felt as if she had dug too deep, like she was a voyeur looking in on Madara’s life. She didn’t have the right to skim over his things, she hadn’t earned that trust. She once again felt glaringly out of place, standing in his quiet living room, and once again wondered if she should leave.

 

Madara hadn’t woken up yet after all… Maybe it would be better if she just left him a note with her number and caught an Uber home...

 

Sakura nearly jumped out of her skin at the sound of drawers opening in his bedroom. She whipped around to face the hallway, frozen in place like a deer caught in headlights.

 

‘ _Shit, shit, he’s awake!_ ’ her frazzled mind screamed, suddenly panicked, ‘ _What do I do?!_ ’

 

She stared into the entrance to the hallway as if it were a portal to the abyss, her eyes wide and mouth ajar in shock. When she heard the door to the bathroom close, she released a breath she hadn’t realized that she had been holding.

 

‘ _Dear sweet lords, act natural! Nonchalant!_ ’ she thought furiously as her eyes shot across the room, desperate for some kind of distraction. Something to do with her hands that made her look like she was entertaining herself but not digging through his stuff like a voyeur…

 

Her alarmed gaze finally settled on the flat screen tv hanging on the wall.

 

Sakura quickly searched for the remote to the satellite tv but, to her dismay, couldn’t find it anywhere. When she heard the sink in the bathroom shut off, she panicked and just started jabbing at buttons on the tv and the cable box themselves.

 

She thanked the gods when the tv flickered on, already playing some war documentary from the history channel on low volume. She took a deep breath to gather her wits as the sound of the bathroom door opening met her ears.

 

Expertly feigning nonchalance, she casually perused the channels on his tv. Her heart was racing in her chest and came to a fever pitch when she heard his soft footsteps come to a stop in the threshold of his living room.

 

She settled on some random news channel as she gathered the courage to look over her shoulder at him. She met his eyes, taking in his surprised expression and nearly drooling at the sight of him in glasses. Her gaze couldn’t help but drag downwards, tracing a path down his muscled chest and towards the trail of hair dipping into his unzipped jeans. She quickly tore her eyes away from his abs and brought them back to his face.

 

Still staring into his surprised expression, Sakura smiled tentatively, a nervous flush coloring her cheeks. His warm returning smile immediately soothed her frayed nerves, her heart finally settling into a comfortable rhythm in her chest.

 

He wanted her here… she was okay.

 

* * *

 

Sakura finally emerged from her ruminations when Madara came to a stop outside of her apartment complex and shut off his bike.

 

Despite her thoughts, she had yet to come up with an answer to her inner conflict. Even more than that, she struggled to find the words to even ask to find the answers she wanted.

 

As she stood, the Uchiha forced down the kickstand and tilted the bike to it’s side. She reached down into his leather saddle bag to remove her purse, tossing the bag over her shoulder just as Madara stood from his bike as well.

 

Sakura tilted her head up to face the man who towered half a foot above her, still struggling for words as he slid off his sunglasses and hooked them in the collar of his long sleeved shirt. She was a great many things but she was no coward. Even if she blundered through this exchange like a spooked horse in an antique shop, she would get the answers she wanted.

 

She glanced down to the ground, biting her lip as she thought. Just as she opened her mouth to speak, her words were stolen away by him stepping forward and entering her personal space. Her heart fluttered in her chest when he boldly cupped her cheek, gently tilting her face towards his.

 

When Madara leaned down and sealed his lips against hers, Sakura’s mind immediately went blank. Instead of a kiss of pure passion and lust, like the numerous ones the lovers had shared over the past week, he kissed her with an affection that took her breath away.

 

Her hands slid up his chest to wrap around his neck as she stood on the tips of her toes to bring them closer together. His arms loosely looped around her waist as his broad hands settled onto her hips. She quickly lost herself in his embrace, her concerns washed away momentarily in the face of his unexpectedly sweet and languid kiss.

 

When he finally pulled back, pressing one more lingering kiss to her lips for good measure, her dazed mind sluggishly processed the fact he had fished her cell phone out of her purse while she was distracted.

 

“Hey!” Sakura berated, her tone lacking the edge it usually would with her still recovering from the Uchiha’s surprise kiss.

 

The wild haired Uchiha just smirked as he finished typing and handed her back her phone. She glared up at him half heartedly, the heat from a blush still burning her cheeks, before she took her phone back and looked down at the screen.

 

Tapped into the new contact screen was a new, unknown phone number with ‘Madara Uchiha’ typed in at the top.

 

“I’m almost frightened to ask, since you don’t like omelets, but do you like sushi?” he asked, breaking her rumination.

 

“I…” she started, her mind foggy and confused as she stared at the new contact screen. Her gaze flicked back up at him to give him a pointed look. “Of course I do.”

 

“Good. Text me the next day you’re available. I have a place in mind,” he replied with a quirk of his lip.

 

Sakura stared at him for a long moment, lips parted in surprise, before her gaze returned to the screen on her phone. With a suddenness and a quickness that had caught her off guard, the questions she had fretted over for the entirety of the ride were answered.

 

Madara had given her his phone number. He had just asked her out to dinner. He had just asked her out on a date. An old lady wasn’t just a wife, it was a girlfriend. He wanted her to be his girlfriend.

 

“Okay…” she mumbled, her mind slipping up as she came to this realization.

 

Sakura tapped the save button at the corner of the screen of her phone and watched as the screen flipped. Her phone now showed his name and number in a bold font, a picture of a gray outline of a person accompanying it.

 

As her phone switched screens, the fact that this was really happening finally sunk in. Madara had asked her on a date. He wanted to explore this potential relationship as much as she did. A slow smile stretched across her face as her eyes flicked up to meet his. His nearly concerned looking expression quickly mirrored her own.

 

“Sure,” she reiterated, her tone much more confident this time around.

 

Sakura tapped on the call button on her screen, watching as the screen darkened and then loaded the call screen. Despite her earlier confusion and hesitation, she wanted to show her lover that she wanted to further explore this new found companionship with him as well. The quickest and more meaningful way she could do that was to give him her number as well.

 

There was a short pause before the muted sound of a phone vibrating met their ears. The elder man reached into the inside pocket of his cut and fished out his phone, clicking answer and then end with a broad smile. He leaned down, unhurried, so they were face to face, his warm smile morphing into a mischievous smirk.

 

For a heartbeat, Sakura thought he was going to kiss her again. She could feel a blush immediately rising to her cheeks at his close proximity.

 

“Try not to get into any bar fights without me around,” Madara teased as he tucked his phone back into the inner pocket of his cut.

 

“That was one time!” she blurted, her cheeks burning.

 

“What can I say,” he started as he turned and straddled his bike once again, “You left an impression.”

 

Sakura just huffed at him, locking and dumping her phone back into her purse. When she looked back up at the sound of the engine of his bike roaring to life, he shot her a cheeky wink. She couldn’t help but smile in response as he slid his sunglasses back onto his face and took off.

 

She watched the Uchiha ride around the bend of her street, disappearing behind her apartment complex. She could still hear his bike in the distance as her smile widened even farther. She shook her head, unable to contain her giddiness.

 

Who would have thought that visiting Sasuke at that bar a week ago would have lead to all of this. Who would have thought that she would wind up sleeping with and eventually getting asked out on a date by the uncle Sasuke had never let her meet when they were kids. Who would have thought that the random but passionate tryst she had shared with the wild haired Uchiha would have gotten this far, to the point where she couldn’t even restrain her smile as she made her way up to her apartment.

 

Gods, she felt like a teenager again.

 

As Sakura made her way down the winding path to her building, up the stone stairs to her apartment, and unlocked her front door, she couldn’t wipe the smile off of her face.

 

What finally did the trick was being scared out of her skin by Sasuke skulking in her living room, her high pitched yelp of alarm and her immediate fight response finally dragging the smile off of her face.

 

Why she gave Sasuke and Naruto keys to her place, she’d never know. It seemed like a good idea at the time but after waking up on multiple mornings with one or both of her boys passed out on her couch and her fridge half empty, and now with Sasuke lurking menacingly in her living room, she found she had some regrets.

 

Regrets that only compounded when Sasuke firmly stated, “We need to talk.”

 

* * *

 

Sakura rolled over onto her opposite side for the hundredth time that night.

 

No matter what she did, she couldn’t get comfortable in her own bed. Her mind was going a million miles a second and she couldn’t help but toss and turn in the face of her inner struggle. She threw her sage green comforter off to the side, her overheated body finding little relief in the cool air of her darkened bedroom.

 

No matter what she did to try to relax, to try to sleep so she could get up early the next day for work, she couldn’t shake the dread that had settled into her bones.

 

The dread that had made it’s home in her ever since Sasuke had opened up about his uncle. The things the elder Uchiha had done in the past, the things he had ordered done, the things Sasuke had watched him do. The few things Sasuke was now privy to as the prospect for the Uchiha MC.

 

And what Sasuke had told her made Sakura sick to her stomach...

 

“ _He’s killed people, Sakura… a lot of people. I’ve… I killed someone for him.”_

 

“ _Sasuke, I-”_

 

“ _Don’t. I don’t want to hear it. I just want you away from him. He’s bad for you! Shit, I’m bad for you… We’re just going to drag you down. That’s what the club is. We’re thugs. I watched Obito torture a guy under Madara’s orders. I watched Madara toss a crowbar into the front tire of a Senju’s bike on the freeway. The trail of blood was hundreds of feet long, they… what was left wasn’t even human anymore.”_

 

Sakura had wanted to throw up. The look of anguish on Sasuke’s face as he recalled his uncle murdering a man in front of him. She was an ER nurse, she knew what motorcycle crashes looked like. She knew how mangled and grotesque the corpses could be and her keen mind filled in the blanks in the story Sasuke told her. She could hardly believe that Madara had done such a thing in front of his own nephew, in front of her best friend...

 

More than that, the sudden realization - no, the sudden remembrance - of what Madara was… The fact that he wasn’t some gentlemanly biker… The fact he was an outlaw, a cold-blooded murderer, the president of a 1% motorcycle club…

 

She felt like she had been punched in the stomach.

 

“ _I watched him beat a Senju to death with his bare hands! For fuck’s sake, this is how we all are, this is what we all are! We’re all going to kill and die for this never ending war with the Senju! He kills and he will die, I kill and I will fucking die!”_

 

“ _Sasuke-!”_

 

Sakura had wanted to cry, hearing Sasuke break down like this in her darkened living room. She wanted to grab onto him and hold him as if she could keep her best friend from falling apart with just her arms. But when she had reached for him, he had lashed out.

 

Like he always did.

 

“ _Shit Sakura-why him!? Why spread your fucking legs for my uncle, of all the people of the gods-damned planet?! Do you have a death wish or are you just that stupid?!”_

 

Immediate, white hot rage had burned away all of her concern for him. She reacted with a fury that dwarfed his, fire burning in her eyes as she bared her teeth. She matched his attack with one of her own.

 

Like she always did.

 

“ _Get out.”_

 

“ _I-shit. Sakura, I’m sorry, I-”_

 

“ _Get the fuck out, Sasuke! And mind your own goddamn business!”_

 

“ _Fine… just remember-”_

 

“ _I don’t fucking care! Get out of my home now!”_

 

Sakura knew that wasn’t the way to end it. After all, what if that was their last conversation? What if she never saw Sasuke again and those were the last words they had shared? Not ones of love and companionship, but words poisoned by a venom they were both too prideful to admit was fear.

 

But both of them were prone to rage and were terrible with managing their emotions. Sasuke seethed and Sakura rampaged. Despite the fact it tore her up on the inside to leave it like that, just how she knew it was for him, it was how it had to be. They would continue this dance, tearing at each other’s throats, until one of them broke down or Naruto, the peacemaker he was, stepped in to take care of it.

 

Both of them were so stubborn that it almost always fell to their best friend Naruto to sort it out...

 

Despite clinging to her fury as a way to deny what Sasuke had told her, Sakura’s emotional buffer had slipped away from her as shame and fear reared their hideous heads.

 

Shame for sleeping with Sasuke’s uncle in the first place. He hadn’t pushed himself onto her, she had been the one to throw herself at him. She should have been humiliated at having been so flagrantly out of control, so incredibly taboo, but instead she had been so turned on by it. So aroused that she had come back a second time, had spent the night getting fucked by Sasuke’s executioner of an uncle.

 

The hands that had so gently caressed her that night, that had so skillfully brought her to the peak of pleasure multiple times, were drenched in blood.

 

Fear clawed at the back of her tongue, a knot forming in her throat that she could not swallow away. Sasuke’s words, his confessions that could get him expelled from his family and even killed, had poisoned Madara’s image in her mind. She couldn’t sleep with her heart pounding in her chest.

 

Sakura had always known who Madara was, what he was… but she had never fully grasped the gravity of it. More than that, even, she had conveniently ignored these facts for the sake of her libido. She had sacrificed her safety, in more ways that one, for the sake of getting off at the hands of an attractive man.

 

She was sick with herself and sick with worry.

 

She didn’t know anything about him, despite perusing his living room like a voyeur. What if he tried to hunt her down if she declined his date? What if he tried to attack her? She was tough, she had spent years training in the art of fighting and was a skilled combatant, but would she be forced to take drastic measures to protect herself? Would he pull his gun on her if she denied him? What if he was a drug addict or what if-

 

Her cell phone buzzed from it’s spot on her nightstand.

 

Sakura jolted in surprise, her text tone ringing twice sounding more like an explosion to her frazzled nerves. Her heart pounded in her chest as she grabbed her phone, turning it so she could read who her late night caller was.

 

Her racing heart stuttered in her chest, her panic returning tenfold as she saw Madara’s name attached to two text notifications on her home screen.

 

As Sakura stared into the overly bright screen of her cell phone, she seriously considered just ignoring the message. Just ignoring his message and any that came after.

 

A sense of humiliation at even having this thought settled over her. She had never been scared off by any man and she certainly wasn’t starting now. She would confront this issue like she confronted any issue in her life: head-long and with courage and vigor.

 

Heart fluttering in her chest, she steeled her resolve and unlocked her phone. She tapped on the app for messages and opened the Uchiha’s texts.

 

Only to be met by a picture of a bar stool and a simple message beneath it.

 

‘ _Thinking of you, my little hellcat’._

 

Her confusion easily overpowered her anxiety as her mind wracked over the possibilities. Was there something else in the picture? Why would he send her a picture of a bar stool of all things and-oh.

 

He had seen her knock out that Senju MC member with a bar stool during that brawl at The Dead End.

 

Sakura dropped her phone down against her pillow as a sudden fit of hysterical laughter slowly built and quickly overcame her. The anxiety that had been compounding as she had agonized over what Sasuke had talked to her about that morning suddenly broke down in the face of her crazed giggles.

 

She felt ridiculous, laughing at a picture of a bar stool of all things, but the sudden purge of all the energy she had been building up was a cathartic release. It took her a long minute to finally gather her nerves to text back, her hands shaking as she typed.

 

‘ _You saw that?’_

 

Her phone buzzed in her hands just a few moments later. Madara was actively on the other side of that screen, giving her his full attention.

 

‘“ _Witnessed” feels like a more accurate term. Where did you learn to swing like that? And in a dress, no less’._

 

Sakura’s shaking slowly settled as she read the text over and over. Her nerves still remained on edge but, by the time she had read his text a fifth time, her racing heart had finally settled in her chest.

 

‘ _I grew up with Sasuke and Naruto. Someone had to keep those idiots safe’._

 

Her phone buzzed once again.

 

‘ _I should be thanking you then. You did save Sasuke that night’._

 

As she texted the Uchiha MC president, she thought of her exploration of his home that morning. She remembered how she had felt anxious over what he was but that her little search had revealed something to her that she was ashamed at having already forgotten.

 

Madara was a three dimensional person, just like her. He wasn’t some horrible monster or some violent stereotype. She could no longer lie to herself about what he had done, what he did, but she knew she couldn’t replace those lies with more lies about how he was a senseless murderer, a violent psychopath, or an abuser...

 

Madara wore contacts and had allergies. His living room was filled with pictures of his family. Despite having an absurd number of degrees from Konoha University, he didn’t know how to make sunny side up eggs. He had a scar that cut across his stomach from a knife wound. He had killed people. He killed a person in front of Sasuke…

 

Sasuke had killed a person. He loved tomatoes and hated sweets. He talked in his sleep and slept flat on his back. His first kiss was with Naruto. He kept a stuffed dinosaur that he had stolen from Itachi as a child hidden in his closet...

 

There was so much more to both of the Uchihas than met the eye.

 

It was like her old mentor Kakashi had once said to her and her boys… Look underneath the underneath.

 

In that moment, despite the anxiety still tingling the edges of her nerves and despite the apprehension that came with what Sasuke had admitted to her, Sakura decided she would give Madara a chance.

 

She would be cautious… but she would give him a chance.

 

As she continued to text her new ‘boyfriend’ late into the night, she sent out a text to Sasuke.

 

‘ _I love you like a brother. I respect you and your opinion and I heard you but I’m going to make my own decisions and you need to support that. I know what I’m getting into’._

 

She paused for a moment before adding.

 

‘ _And you owe me an apology, you asshole_ ’.

 

 


	5. First Date

Madara stood in front of his open closet, conflicted.

 

A towel hung from his hips as droplets of water slid down his chest from the ends of his still damp hair. The woodsy scent of his recently applied cologne still lingered at the edges of his perception, soon to be lost to him but hopefully not to her.

 

He felt ridiculous. He was picking out a shirt and a pair of pants, not searching for the best set of shock absorbers for one of his bikes.

 

Madara rubbed his freshly shaven jaw as he stared into his closet, considering the clothes within.

 

The majority of his closet was dominated by long sleeve shirts in varying shades of black, gray, and blue. A number of t-shirts hung next to the long sleeves, some band shirts from his younger days, some plain and in a variety of colors, some graphic tees from the club or other organizations. A few sleeveless tops from his bodybuilding days remained, only taken out during the heart of summer when he still felt partial to wearing a shirt beneath his cut. A handful of hoodies, some decorated with the emblems from Konoha University, the MC, or his gym, and a few jackets of varying kinds took up the rest of the space in his closet.

 

The Uchiha flipped through the shirts, sighing deeply.

 

An entire closet filled with decades worth of clothing and he had no fucking idea what to wear. This was ludicrous… If his brothers saw him now, they would laugh in his face.

 

He hadn’t taken anyone out in years. They were just going to get sushi, not going to a fancy dinner, but it was also a step up from getting smashed at the bar or the clubhouse. He wasn’t so far out of the loop to think that his suit would be appropriate but he wanted to be especially appealing to his little hellcat for their first actual date.

 

Madara made a noise of exasperation before pulling out his softest long sleeve shirt and tossing it onto his bed. He turned to paw through his dresser, digging through the drawers until he came up with his nicest pair of jeans and a pair of plain socks, both of his finds joining the shirt on his bed.

 

He tugged the towel off of his waist, using the opposite side to dry the ends of his wet hair. He tossed the towel into the hamper in his closet before pulling on his clothes. Once his jeans were secured around his hips by his belt, he clipped his holster and pistol to the back of his waistband. Finally, he slipped his cut onto his shoulders and pulled his damp hair out from beneath the leather cut.

 

He picked up his phone from the bed and checked the time before tucking it into the inner pocket of his cut.

 

Making his way into his living room, he grabbed his wallet and keys from a bowl on the island in his kitchen. He slipped his wallet into the pocket of his cut opposite his phone but paused, staring at the set of keys in his hand. He dropped the keys back into the bowl and picked up another set.

 

Decidedly ignoring the fluttering sensation in his chest, the Uchiha tugged his boots onto his feet and walked into his garage.

 

* * *

 

Sakura groaned in exasperation as she scrubbed her hands against her face. She huffed out a sigh into her palms before dropping her hands back down to her sides, revealing the piles of outfits on her bed that didn’t pass her test.

 

She struggled not just with finding the proper outfit but with the thoughts tumbling around in her head.

 

She may have decided that she wanted to see the Uchiha MC president again, to explore the possibility of a committed relationship with him, but she still struggled with her perception of him. The things that Sasuke had told her about a week previous still haunted her thoughts and dogged her memories and fantasies of Madara.

 

Sakura knew that Madara was a three dimensional person, that he wasn’t just some roguish biker or a mindless murderer but an individual with numerous traits and titles. She fought against the biker stereotype ingrained in her mind and tried to envision him as he truly was, or at least how he had been to her.

 

No matter what she did, however, she felt a deep sense of inner conflict over one title that he held in particular: killer.

 

She had mentally grappled with this fact for the entirety of the week they had been apart. What he did, what he was, had been easy to ignore when she had been high on his presence. The bliss she had felt in his embrace, and the euphoria that washed over her when their bodies were joined, had conveniently tucked away any concerns she had had about the handgun always tucked into the back of his jeans.

 

Even though they had texted back and forth fairly often, both of them were far too busy with their personal obligations to chat consistently. This, coupled with the fact she hadn’t seen him physically in the past week, forced her to confront the thoughts she had pushed away to be dealt with at another time. Forced her to correlate the different pieces of Madara into one cohesive being in her mind.

 

Sakura had always know what the MC did, what they were, to a certain degree. She knew that they were outlaws and that there were a set of traits and activities that directly related to this lifestyle. She had realized this long ago when a young Sasuke had first told her and Naruto about his family.

 

She knew that the Uchiha MC took part in illegal activities as part of their lifestyle: selling contraband (Sasuke had given her a sickened look when she had asked if they sold drugs, something that told her the club was at least above that level), doing mercenary work, and activities of the like. She knew that they also used drastic and often bloody means to protect their family and their honor as well.

 

But knowing in a vague sense and knowing in a direct sense were two very different things. Knowing Madara was an outlaw was one thing but knowing he had killed a Senju on the freeway by knocking them off of their bike was something entirely different.

 

Even more than that though, Sakura grappled with her mental image of her best friend Sasuke. While she was excited to pursue these budding feelings with Madara, despite her inner conflict, she didn’t have a particularly intense emotional connection with him. They could part ways and, while she would be incredibly disappointed, she would survive.

 

Sasuke, however, was as important to her as the air in her lungs or the blood in her veins.

 

Sasuke and Naruto were her brothers, the people she loved most in this world. She wasn’t even as close to her own overbearing parents as she was with her boys. She had grown up with them - fought with them, cried with them, bled with them - and they were the closest people to her heart. To live without them would be the same as dying.

 

And to learn that her mental image of Sasuke was incorrect, incomplete, left her with an intense sense of dissonance.

 

But while Sakura added this new fact, that he had killed a person, to her Sasuke mental schema, she was able to more easily accept Madara’s lifestyle. If Sasuke was part of the MC and took part in all of the illicit activities that they involved themselves in, and if he was still the same Sasuke that she knew and loved with all of her heart, then perhaps she could accept what Madara was.

 

She certainly would never approve but she knew better than to leap onto her high horse when she had no idea the lives they lived. The soldiers she sometimes worked with at the hospital had killed people during battle, some of her patients had been forced to kill people to defend themselves, and it sounded as if there was a very real war between the Uchiha MC and the Senju MC.

 

And Sakura wasn’t exactly a saint either. She had gotten into numerous fights over the course of her life and had nearly killed a man once...

 

Correlating all of these aspects of Madara had been a mental struggle all week and had interfered with her work at the hospital and her studies in medical school. While she still remained firm in her decision to explore this relationship, she hoped that tonight would allow her to see who he truly was again and put her concerns to rest. She needed to be on an even emotional keel for the sake of her patients and the sake of her studies.

 

Shaking herself mentally, she slipped on the dress she held in her hands and gazed at her reflection in the mirror hanging over the back of her bedroom door. She grumbled to herself when she realized it was the same damn dress she had worn when her and Madara had first met.

 

Sakura ripped it off, intending on throwing the garment away. She could never wear the thing in public again with the russet brown blood stains on it from the Senju she had attacked. Her hand paused over the trash bin in her bedroom, her grip still tight around the balled up dress.

 

She unballed the dress, folding it into a sloppy square and tucking it into the depths of her closet. She would save it. For posterity's sake… She could still remember when Ino had given it to her as a birthday present after all. Not for… other reasons or anything.

 

Picking up her phone from where it sat on her nightstand, plugged in and charging (you’re welcome, Sasuke), she checked the time. Groaning aloud, her gaze returned to the piles of garments, some still on their hangers, lying across her bed.

 

Sakura selected one of the outfits she had tried on earlier that she had thought looked good enough but that hadn’t really jumped out at her as being perfect. She made quick work of shoving the rest of the clothes either back into her closet, back into her dresser, or into her hamper before making her way to her bathroom.

 

After all, if she didn’t hurry up and get dressed and do her makeup, she wouldn’t be ready by the time Madara showed up.

 

Hooking her phone up to the bluetooth speaker in her bathroom, she played some music to help ignore the butterflies gathering in her stomach.

 

* * *

 

Madara knocked on the door to her apartment and waited patiently on the other side. He resisted the urge to tap his foot or fold his arms, refusing to show any outward signs of the nervousness _that he certainly wasn’t feeling in that moment_.

 

When Sakura opened the door, any concerns that he certainly hadn’t had at that moment were immediately washed away. He was taken away by her beauty once again. His memory did little justice to the true allure of his hellcat.

 

His gaze drug from her head to her toes before flicking back up to her smiling face.

 

A pale green, long sleeve top that looked so soft he wanted to touch her clung to her lithe body. The shirt was just cut high enough to reveal a delectable strip of creamy skin at her belly. A necklace with a purple, diamond shaped pendant hung around her neck. She wore a pair of black jeans so form fitting that they might as well have been painted on and a pair of tawny leather boots were strapped to her feet.

 

Her candy colored hair was artfully wrapped up in a bun, her bangs brushed back to reveal her light makeup and the smile stretched across her soft lips.

 

“Hi,” she greeted sweetly, snapping him out of his ruminations.

 

“Hello, Sakura. You look stunning, as always,” he complimented with a roguish smirk, leaning against the door frame and towards her.

 

“Careful now, we might not make it to dinner with that attitude,” Sakura teased with a widening smile, unconsciously leaning closer to him as well.

 

“Hmm, can’t have that _quite yet_... Are you ready?” Madara chuckled in response, resisting the urge to reach out and pull her into his arms. To see if she felt as soft and warm as she looked.

 

“Ah, yes, I just need my purse,” she replied, unaware of his inner struggle, as she turned and walked back into her apartment.

 

As she grabbed her purse from the dark wooden coffee table in her living room, he leaned in to sneak a peek of her home.

 

Sakura’s living room was decorated simply, a umber colored sectional taking up the majority of the room. A flat screen tv was perched on top of a crowded entertainment center littered with various electronics and DVD cases. A cedar coffee table was perched next to the couch and was covered in remotes and a variety of books whose covers he couldn’t make out from this distance, even with his contacts in.

 

A few jackets and umbrellas hung on a peg board next to the front door and a line of shoes were haphazardly dumped on the floor beneath it. His eyes flicked over a handful of paintings and pictures hanging up on the walls, recognizing a couple as being prints from a variety of famous painters.

 

The Uchiha was only able to sneak a brief peek of her kitchen, only absorbing the small, three seat dining room table that she had tucked into the corner, before she walked back up to him, purse slung over her shoulder.

 

Sakura smiled up at him as she locked the doorknob to her apartment from the inside without even looking.

 

“If you’re good, you’ll see more tonight,” Sakura purred, brushing her hand down his arm sensually as she passed by him.

 

He resisted the urge to shiver, the feeling of her hands against his skin once again after a week of being separated from him feeling like a warm blanket on a frigid night. She pulled the door shut as she went, smoothly sneaking around him and making her way towards the stone staircase leading to the ground floor. He turned on his heel and caught up to her in two strides, leaning down to place his lips next to her ear.

 

“I’ll be sure to be on my best behavior,” he hummed against her ear as his hand settled onto her waist.

 

“I’ll believe it when I see it,” she giggled as his fingers stroked the incredibly soft fabric of her shirt.

 

Madara’s fingertips teased the small strip of skin revealed at her waist as they walked down the stairs and towards the road. She leaned against him as they walked, happily tucking herself against his side. He quit his teasing, his grip strengthening at he held her against him happily.

 

Her warm body pressed against his felt intoxicating. He couldn’t come up with a single thing to say to tease her back, far too distracted by the pleasant sensation of her returning to his embrace.

 

“Where’s your bike parked?” Sakura questioned as they made their way to the street, her eyes flicking across the row of unfamiliar vehicles parked along the curb.

 

“I didn’t bring it,” he explained simply, fishing his keys out of the pocket of his cut.

 

The Uchiha clicked unlock on the dongle attached to his key ring, the headlights on a nearby truck blinking twice as the alarm deactivated.

 

“Oh, I would have worn something prettier if I didn’t have to worry about the wind…” she commented, “I was surprised to find out you even owned a truck to be honest.”

 

“While my bike is my primary mode of transportation, it isn’t always the most appropriate vehicle,” he stated as he removed his arm from around Sakura’s waist so he could approach the passenger door to his truck, “And you could make a burlap sack sexy, Sakura.”

 

“Flatterer,” she laughed with a smile.

 

Madara opened the passenger door for her, drawing an expression of surprise from the young woman. She blinked once before hopping in, brushing her hand across his arm once again with a warm smile as she did.

 

Once she was settled inside, he closed the door carefully. He made his way to the driver's door and hopped in, jamming his key into the ignition and starting the truck. As he slipped on his seatbelt, Creedence Clearwater Revival started playing through his MP3 player plugged into his stereo.

 

“Oh, is this Walk On the Water?” Sakura questioned from next to him, setting her purse on the floor of the truck.

 

“You know this band?” he asked curiously, somehow surprised that Sakura had recognized the artist playing through the speakers.

 

“Well, yeah. My dad used to play this album all the time,” she explained before tacking on, “My favorite is I Put a Spell On You.”

 

“Oh, good, I was worried there for a moment. I believe you traumatized me when you said you didn’t like omelets,” Madara teased as he threw the truck into drive and pulled out onto the road.

 

“I just don’t like omelets that much!” she whined, “Sasuke scarred me for life when he made some that had raw tomatoes in them.”

 

Madara snorted out a laugh as he turned onto the main road, making his way towards the restaurant. “Okay, perhaps I can forgive you then… I was worried you wouldn’t enjoy the finer things in life. Like sushi or Suzie Q.”

 

“Weeeell…” she drew out with a meaningful pause.

 

As he came to a stop at the stop light, he turned to give her a pointed look, “If you say you don’t like Suzie Q, I will bite you.”

 

“That doesn’t sound like much of a punishment to me…” Sakura purred as she smiled sensually.

 

Madara’s heart sped up in his chest, excitement immediately tingling the edges of his nerves. Gazing at her biting the edge of her lower lip, and the lascivious look in her emerald eyes, brought him back to all the time they had spent together in the throws of passion. All the time they had spent wrapped up in each other’s bodies and taking their pleasure together.

 

“I’m trying to take you out to dinner. Don’t tempt me into pulling this truck over and ravishing you now, little hellcat,” he growled, nearly missing the red light turning green in his distraction.

 

“After dinner then?”

 

He smirked. “After dinner.”

 

“Promise?” She hummed, scooting closer to him. Her hand slid across the middle seat separating them to rest on his thigh.

 

A rush of pleasure shot up his spine.

 

“Promise,” he replied sincerely, already plotting out the ways he would ravish her that night.

 

But for now…

 

Madara’s free hand separated from the steering wheel to capture Sakura’s hand on his thigh. He slowly laced their fingers together, holding her hand for the first time since they had met.

 

While it was such a simple gesture, the action tugged at his heartstrings. A wave of satisfaction washed over him from far more than just the promise of more sex later that night.

 

* * *

 

Madara gazed at Sakura sitting across the table from him, watching as she plucked a sushi roll from her plate with her chopsticks and popped it into her mouth, as he chewed his own bite. He was excited to finally have his favorite food, inarizushi, once again, but he was far more excited to finally talk to his little hellcat and find out more about her.

 

“I’ve been dying to ask… How did you learn how to fight?” he asked before taking another bite of the deep fried treat in his hand.

 

Her gaze flicked up to him and she swallowed before she replied, “The short answer is that both me, Sasuke, and Naruto joined an MMA gym after a… traumatizing event we went through together.”

 

The elder Uchiha’s eyebrows furrowed at her explanation. He had never heard any mention of his young nephew going through a traumatizing event as a child. What had happened?

 

“A traumatizing event?” he parroted.

 

“It’s kind of a long story… and not really dinner conversation, honestly...” she replied uncertainly, toying with a sushi roll with her chopsticks.

 

“I’d like to hear,” he insisted.

 

“Really?” Sakura asked incredulously.

 

“Truly. You’re going to have to try quite hard to scare me away,” he assured with a quirk of his lip, taking another bite and finishing off the first inarizushi from his plate.

 

“Ah, well…” Sakura cleared her throat as she gathered her thoughts. “When Naruto, Sasuke, and I were younger, only in middle school, we were attacked by these three teens from Oto on our walk home from school. Two guys and a girl. Naruto and Sasuke tried to protect me but they both got knocked out when they ganged up on them. I had tried to stay to protect them but… I wasn’t very strong and kind of got my ass kicked, honestly.”

 

Madara flared with rage but refused to allow his anger to show outwardly. What kind of savages would take on a untrained little girl three to one? And why had he never heard about this from his nephew? Was this yet another thing that Sasuke had kept secret from him?

 

He took a measured sip from his tea as Sakura continued.

 

“This chick was, uh… dragging me around by my hair…” Sakura cleared her throat to discreetly stabilize her voice. “...when one of our friends, Lee, showed up to try to help. It was good he did because while he was getting beaten up, I was able to grab this knife clipped to her pocket. I was kind of freaking out at that point - I had never been in a fight before - so I tried to cut my own hair to escape. Teared out, more like... It didn’t cut like it does in the movies. I think I cut her hand more than my own hair, honestly…”

 

She nervously cleared her throat once again, fiddling with her chopsticks as she spoke. Even though it had been years, it was obvious that this event was deeply significant to her. And Madara could see why. Her first fight had ended up with her two best friends getting knocked unconscious and her getting tossed around and it had taken the intervention from a passerby and her slicing her own hair off to regain an equal playing field.

 

The Uchiha listened carefully as she continued, committing every word to memory, as he took a bite from his next inarizushi. He could hardly find it in him to enjoy his treat with the tale she was telling and the anger burning in his gut.

 

“Sasuke woke up at the sound of this chick screaming and he tackled the guy who was beating up Lee to the ground and just started laying into him. I’ve never seen him like that before or since… With Lee there and Sasuke awake again, and with me swinging around a knife, we scared the three and they ran off.”

 

“What happened after?” Madara asked, forcibly reigning in his rage not just at these past savages but at the fact that this event had been kept a secret from him. Yet another thing that he was unworthy of knowing, based entirely off of their fear of what he might do.

 

He was no monster but it appeared everyone around him disagreed with this thought. Except for his little hellion, apparently...

 

“We went to the hospital. Naruto was still unconscious and Sasuke had a broken nose. Lee and I weren’t doing that well either. We had to carry Naruto though since he wouldn’t wake up… Turns out he had gotten a concussion. Naruto was admitted for the night - oh his mom was _pissed_ \- and Sasuke and I refused to leave his side,” she paused for a moment as a small smile spread across her lips, “And I’ll never forget this, but a blonde doctor let us stay the night. She took one look at us and kind of shook her head but she let us stay.”

 

His interest perked at the mention of a blonde doctor. He suspected that he knew who Sakura was referring to but kept quiet.

 

“Her and this black haired nurse that was there actually inspired me to get into healthcare… but anyways, Naruto woke up that next morning. We snuck away right after and walked to the nearby MMA gym and signed up. And, twelve years later, we’re still going strong.”

 

She shrugged as she popped another piece of sushi into her mouth.

 

“I’m impressed by your determination. You stuck around to protect your friends when you could have ran away. That’s very brave, especially for someone with no training. And the fact you all decided to learn to fight to defend yourselves, and each other, was admirable,” he praised honestly.

 

Sakura smiled a half smile as he took another bite out of his meal.

 

“You’re sweet. It was funnier than anything else though, I think... We probably looked like three little serial killers, all bruised and wearing day old clothes covered in dirt and dried up blood.” She shook her head, huffing out a self deprecating laugh. “Naruto’s eye was swollen shut and he still had his hospital ID wristband on. Sasuke’s nose was three times its size even though it had just gotten set. And then me, a wicked bruise on my cheek and my butchered haircut. I never let my hair grow out after that...”

 

“I imagine the instructors there knew what had happened and knew you three weren’t up to anything bad. They just wanted to help, I’m sure.”

 

She chuckled and shook her head. “I imagine that’s what Kakashi-sensei might say if any of us could actually get him to talk about his feelings.”

 

Madara blinked in surprise as he heard a name that he hadn’t heard in many years. “Kakashi? Kakashi Hatake?”

 

“Yeah, you know him?” she asked curiously as she grabbed another piece of sushi with her chopsticks and popped it into her mouth.

 

Madara did indeed know Kakashi. The reason that him and Obito had stopped training at that MMA gym. The man who had once been Obito’s best friend but who had abandoned him after Rin’s death. The man who had nearly allowed Obito to beat him to death after a confrontation at the gym.

 

The wild haired Uchiha was surprised to hear Sakura bring up Kakashi’s name and was especially shocked to hear the honorific of sensei attached to it. Who would have thought that man would become a teacher of all things…

 

It was almost nearly as shocking as discovering the silver haired man was one of Sakura’s neighbors, something Madara had thoroughly researched after recognizing the younger male outside of Sakura’s apartment all those weeks ago.

 

“In a way,” he evaded smoothly before continuing, “Konoha MMA, correct? I used to train there. I taught classes for a while before I switched to another gym.”

 

“Taught?” She parroted through her mouthful, eyebrows furrowed as she finished her bite, “What belt are you?”

 

He smirked. His ranking was one of his most prized accomplishments after all. An achievement that he had spent the last quarter century, her entire lifetime, working towards. “I’m an eighth degree black belt.”

 

“No fucking way!” Sakura blurted out immediately before blushing and stammering, “Er, I mean, uh, wow, that’s really impressive.”

 

The Uchiha laughed. “And what rank are you?”

 

“I just got my first degree black belt this year…” she muttered, taking a dejected sip from her tea.

 

“You’re ahead of Sasuke. He’s still a brown belt, if memory serves.” He tossed the rest of his second inarizushi into his mouth.

 

A cocky smirk spread across her lips, nearly hidden by her cup. “Heh, I’m ahead of both of them. Naruto had just gotten his brown belt when I got my black. They’ll be getting their black belts this year though, I’m certain of it.”

 

“Hmm, no wonder why you were so dangerous at the bar. Did they begin teaching some furniture-based class during my absence?” he teased, drawing a laugh from Sakura.

 

“No, that’s a style all my own,” she chuckled as she set down her cup and scooped up her chopsticks once again, “But how come I never saw you while I was working out there?”

 

“Probably because I left that gym about…” Madara thought for a moment. “Fifteen years ago.”

 

“Oh, yeah, that’s probably it then. Why did you leave anyways?” she asked as she plucked another sushi roll from her plate and popped it into her mouth.

 

“A conflict of interest between a family member and a student there. The club had just started their own gym anyways, the Red Dragon MMA downtown, and I was needed to lead the project for a while. I was an instructor there for some time before I retired. I still go there to spar on occasion,” he detailed as he plucked his final rice ball off of the plate in front of him.

 

Sakura leaned forward with a mischievous smile and purred, “Should I start calling you sensei now?”

 

A thrill ran down his spine and arousal settled in his stomach at her words. The little hellion, teasing him in such a way in such a public place. If they didn’t have an audience, he’d show her just what ‘sensei’ could do.

 

Madara smirked at her wolfishly, leaning forward so he could breath, “Only if you’d like me to show you some… holds we’ll both enjoy.”

 

“Hmm, I’ll keep that in mind then,” she hummed as she sat back in her booth.

 

Gods, he was going to pin her down and sink his teeth into her neck tonight. To show her just a fraction of the power in his form and use it to bring her to the height of bliss.

 

For now, he settled for taking a bite from his final inarizushi.

 

They were briefly interrupted by the waiter stopping by to refill their cups of tea. Both him and Sakura thanked the young man briefly before their attention returned to one another.

 

She was the first to speak, curiosity coloring her tone as she caught her final piece of sushi in her chopsticks, “What do you do for work anyways? You know I work as a nurse at Konoha Regional.”

 

“I’m a freelance mechanical engineer. I started my career slaving over small repairs and supplemented my income with my martial arts teaching. I wanted to teach history for a while but settled on furthering my mechanical engineering when I started pulling in good money working government contracts,” Madara replied, quickly summarizing his profession as she finished her final bite.

 

“So if my dishwasher breaks again, I can con you into coming over and helping me fix it?” she teased with a catty smile, setting her chopsticks across her plate.

 

“I’ve fixed enough dishwashers to last several lifetimes. You’d really have to sweeten the deal to entice me to fix another one,” he chuckled. He could live the rest of his life without fixing another damned dishwasher.

 

“What if I asked really nice… Madara-sensei?” Beneath the table, Sakura sensually slid the tip of her foot up his calf until it teased the inside of his knee.

 

“Little minx…” he growled as he grabbed her ankle from beneath the table, dragging an eep and laughter from Sakura.

 

The Uchiha loosened his hold on her leg but refused to allow her to escape. Instead, he pulled her foot up onto the booth next to him. He slowly ran his large palm up and down her calf, enjoying touching her again after having to release her hand earlier to make their way into the restaurant.

 

“You said you wanted to be a history teacher?” she asked as she smiled sweetly, brushing the tip of her boot along his side affectionately.

 

He continued to slowly run his hand along her calf, teasing the back of her thigh with his fingertips. “I did. I’ve always been fascinated with history, war specifically. I first went to college to pursue a degree in history because I wanted to teach classes at the university. I realized the futility of my dream when I began to run into numerous conflicts with other Senju at the college, specifically ones who shared classes with me.”

 

“Oh wow, I never thought of that,” Sakura replied, a sympathetic expression on her face, “That must have been tough.”

 

“It presented a unique set of problems. It was because of my… conflicts specifically that both clubs passed a law that stated we could no longer wear our cuts to the universities. Neither us nor the Senju wanted to deal with our entire family being banned from an institute of higher education. It doesn’t reflect well on the clubs and it would have been unfair to the family members who weren’t in the club but who were pursuing degrees.”

 

Not to mention his father, the president of the MC at the time, would have beat him with a damned crowbar if Madara’s brawls with the various Senju on campus had gotten their entire family banned from the universities. After the clubs had passed the laws banning members from wearing their cuts on campus, it had been easier to ignore each other.

 

While the Uchihas and the Senjus both had a variety of defining characteristics that were fairly easy to pick out in a crowd (not to mention most rode their bikes to class; the two families had parked their bikes on total opposite sides of the universities to avoid temptation), it was easier to ignore one another if they didn’t have to stare at each other’s cuts, symbols which instigated instant bloodshed if seen anywhere else in the city.

 

“Makes sense.” Sakura nodded.

 

“The conflicts made me realize I couldn’t become a teacher, unfortunately. With my ties to the club, especially now, I am too biased,” Madara explained, frowning when he noticed the concerned expression on her face, “It wasn’t too big of a hit since I had just started working for the club’s newly opened mechanics shop though. I discovered that I enjoyed working with machines. I finished my Master’s in History and began to pursue a degree in mechanical engineering.”

 

He took another bite from his inarizushi, chewing thoughtfully.

 

“I’m sorry to hear you put in all that work and had to give up your dream because of the club…” she apologized, a sympathetic frown pulling at her lips.

 

“It wasn’t too terrible. I enjoy my work. And I’ve helped write a few books on history so my degree isn’t completely useless,” he assured with a smile, pinching her thigh and pulling a giggle from his date, “Don’t worry yourself. I’m quite happy with what I do.”

 

“I’m glad to hear that.” Sakura smiled brightly.

 

“My first degree also has allowed me to become the undefeated history jeopardy champion,” the Uchiha joked as he popped the rest of his fried rice ball into his mouth.

 

She laughed aloud. “We’d be undefeatable together then. I love trivia games.”

 

Before Madara could reply, they were politely interrupted by the waiter from before making his appearance once again.

 

“Would you two like seconds?” the young man asked with a cordial smile as he gathered up their used plates.

 

“No thank you. But could I get a plate of anmitsu, please?” Sakura asked courteously.

 

“Of course. And you, sir?”

 

“Just more tea, thank you.”

 

“Okay, I’ll return shortly,” the waiter stated briefly before turning and leaving.

 

Madara’s gaze returned to Sakura sitting across from him, both of their attention undivided as they had no food to distract them.

 

“How do you like working as a nurse?” he questioned, resting his forearm across the table and leaning towards her. His free hand flattened against his calf, briefly ceasing his exploration.

 

“I love it,” she immediately replied vehemently, a wide smile spreading across her lips, “I love that I’m capable of helping people when they’re at their most vulnerable. I can help them feel safe when they’re scared, I can take away their pain when they’re hurting, and I can give people hope where there is none. Just like how that nurse was with me and Sasuke and Naruto when we were kids. Nothing I’ve ever done has been more rewarding.”

 

He was enamored by her passion for helping people in need. A part of him was still shocked that a woman as powerful and indomitable as her was soft enough to care for others but knew that her work in the emergency room must require a special kind of strength.

 

“What made you want to go into medical school?”

 

“I want to be able to do more. I want to save lives in the operating room, to piece people back together rather than just taking care of them. I would be a nurse in the OR so I could be closer to my goal but I feel like I’m helping more in the ER.”

 

He was silent for a long moment, just gazing at the woman who had so easily captured his affection and who continued to captivate him with every word she spoke.

 

Sakura truly was a one of a kind woman.

 

“Your compassion clashes wonderfully with your strength. The fact you can use your hands to hurt and to heal is… incredibly attractive,” Madara purred, sliding his palm up her calf once again and drawing a sweet blush from her.

 

Before she could speak, the waiter from before dropped by once again with a fresh pot of tea and a plate of anmitsu. He placed the dessert in front of Sakura, who thanked him, before he carefully refilled their cups of tea. He nodded to them both briefly before making a quick exit.

 

Sakura cleared her throat shyly. “So you’re Fugaku’s brother, right? What was it like growing up with him as an older brother?”

 

As Madara replied, she plucked one of the jelly squares from her plate of sweets and popped it into her mouth. “He didn’t come to be my brother until I was about ten years old, actually. When his parents… passed away, my parents adopted him.”

 

“Oh. I had no idea…” she mumbled with a frown.

 

“But, to answer your question, he was a justifiably jaded and miserable bastard but my younger brothers and I latched onto him quite quickly,” he laughed, “I consider him to by my brother, even though it is chosen rather than by blood.”

 

“How are you related by blood?” She nudged her plate towards Madara, silently offering to share her dessert with him.

 

He plucked his unused chopsticks from the table, snapping them in half and rubbing them together to grind off any splinters. “He is my cousin. His mother was my father’s sister.”

 

“So that would make Sasuke your… what is it…” she thought for a moment, “First cousin once removed?”

 

“Yes, although nephew rolls off the tongue a bit easier,” Madara chuckled as he scooped up one of the shiratama from the plate with his chopsticks and popped the bite sized dango into his mouth.

 

“And you said brothers? I’ve only heard of Izuna and Fugaku. How many siblings do you have? And are your other brothers not a part of the club or something?” Sakura plucked a shiratama from the plate with her chopsticks as well, placing it in her mouth.

 

Her question made him take pause for a moment. He knew that she didn’t know and knew that she was in no way being rude. However, having to explain that nearly all of his closest family members, his parents and his brothers, were dead always stung.

 

It had been decades since he had last seen any of them alive but the pain from their loss remained like a splinter he couldn’t dig out. A dull but nagging pain that could make him go mad if he focused on it for too long.

 

Trying to explain his familial situation as gently as he could, not wanting to show his upset or upset Sakura, Madara detailed, “Ah, there were six of us, including Fugaku... Him, Izuna, and myself are the only ones still a part of this world.”

 

Sakura’s face dropped. “Oh, I’m so sorry! That was so insensitive of me to ask!”

 

“It’s fine, you didn’t know,” he replied, quickly changing the subject before she could latch onto her embarrassment and before he could think on his dead family members too much, “How many siblings do you have?”

 

He snagged a cube of sweet jelly from her plate, popping it into his mouth.

 

“I, uh…” Sakura brushed a few stray hairs from her bangs back into her bun, obviously embarrassed from the previous topic. “I’m an only child actually. Although I consider Sasuke and Naruto to be my brothers.”

 

She nervously scooped up a sweet jelly cube from the tray.

 

“I can hardly imagine not having any siblings, considering I grew up with so many…” The Uchiha commented, the corner of his lip quirking up as he remembered his rowdy childhood with his five energetic brothers, “And I apologize for you having to deal with my nephew as a teeanger during his moody years.”

 

Sakura smiled, huffing out a laugh. “He wasn’t so bad. Normally Naruto and I would just kind of beat up on him a little bit and he’d talk to us eventually.”

 

He laughed aloud, amused by the image of his baby nephew being dog piled by a five and a half foot, pink haired girl and a dorky blond. “So that’s where that confrontational attitude comes from. He certainly has the most sass out of anyone who’s prospected for the club.”

 

He plucked the final shiratama from her plate with his chopsticks.

 

“What’s it like, being in an MC? Why did you want to join?” she continued curiously as she plucked a fresh strawberry with a kuromitsu drizzle from the plate. She swiped the strawberry across the dark colored syrup, gathering more onto the sweet berry, before popping it into her mouth.

 

“We’re all Uchihas, of course, but being in the club makes everyone closer. Despites most of us being some kind of cousin or another, we’re all brothers and sisters in the club. We can all count on each other for anything. That’s what appealed to me about the MC. Also, my father was the president before I was elected. I wanted to make him proud by following in his footsteps.”

 

Madara had never felt more accepted, more happy, than when he was in the club. They had always been there for him. When he was a gangly, pissy teenager furious at the world. When he had found out that the friend he had made, the best friend he had even had, had been a damned Senju in an altercation that nearly got him, Izuna, and his father killed. When both his mother and father had been murdered by the Senju. When nearly all of his youngest brothers had been killed off over the course of a year.

 

He had always been able to turn to the MC for help, even during his darkest times when all he had wanted was bloodshed. They took care of him and his family and he showed his love and appreciation by taking care of them. A fact that would one day land him as president of the club.

 

“Is being the president heir based?” Sakura questioned with an incredulous expression as she plucked the final cube of jelly off of their shared plate with her chopsticks and popped it into her mouth.

 

He laughed, snagging the final piece of strawberry from the plate. “No, not at all. We’re a direct democracy, thank you very much. Although I was able to hand pick all of my officers when I was chosen.”

 

“What’s it like being president?” she asked as she pushed their finished plate towards the edge of the table. They both placed their used chopsticks across the plate.

 

“Very busy. I hardly have any time to myself anymore, honestly. If I’m not working or sleeping, I’m with the club,” he answered honestly.

 

Despite the fact that the club took up nearly all of his time, he was happy being the president. He felt as if he was making a difference with his family, even making a difference for their city.

 

“I feel bad, stealing your small amount of free time away...”

 

“I’m more than happy to spend it with you, my little hellcat.” He hummed happily, sliding his hand across the table so he could grasp her hand.

 

As he ran his thumb across her knuckles, she blushed, a sweet smile spreading across her lips. Her fingers tightened around his, her toes nudging his side affectionately.

 

Their waiter’s voice suddenly interrupted the moment they were having. “Excuse me, sir, ma’am?”

 

They turned to face the waiter as he informed apologetically, “I’m very sorry but we’re closing now.”

 

“Closing?” both her and Madara parroted.

 

The Uchiha finally snapped out of the trance he had been under all night, emerging from the private bubble that they had been suspended in. He was shocked to see that it was pitch black outside, only three vehicles, one being his own, parked in the parking lot. There were no other patrons in the restaurant, tables cleaned and chairs flipped up to rest on their seats along the edges of the tables. An elderly man was sweeping and cleaning up as the young waiter spoke to them.

 

His eyes flicked to the clock on the wall and he was able to make out that it was nearly 10pm.

 

“Oh, I’m so sorry! I had no idea it was getting so late,” Sakura apologized immediately, turning to drag her purse into her lap.

 

Using her distraction as an opportunity, Madara slyly slipped the waiter his credit card. He signed the number twenty to the young man before pointing to him, indicating that his tip would be twenty dollars. The young man nodded in understanding, quickly hiding the card in his palm.

 

“It’s fine. We felt kinda bad interrupting you two. I’ll be back in a minute,” he stated, quickly making his exit once again.

 

“Oh my gods, I can’t believe we’ve been here so long,” she commented as she dug through her bag and pulled out her wallet.

 

“Time certainly does fly,” he replied as she set her wallet on top of her purse, patiently waiting for the waiter to return.

 

The ebony haired man smiled at her, finding it cute that she intended to either pay for her portion of the meal or for the entirety of the meal. While he would never patronize his little hellcat, he wasn’t about to let her get away with letting her pay for anything on their first actual date.

 

When the waiter returned, he handed Madara a receipt and returned his credit card. “Have a nice night. Please come again!”

 

As the young man took off, the Uchiha tucked his card and receipt into his wallet.

 

“You didn’t,” Sakura gasped as she gaped at him, still holding her wallet in her hand.

 

“Oh, I did,” he replied with a grin as he tucked his wallet back into the pocket of his cut.

 

“When? You little sneak!” she demanded as she jammed her wallet back into her purse.

 

“It’s a secret.” He winked as he stood with a grin. “Ready?”

 

She glared up at him cutely as she hooked her purse over her shoulder and stood. Even though she was miffed at him stealing the bill, she easily returned to his side when he wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

 

* * *

 

Sakura felt intoxicated by Madara’s presence.

 

Her high was only amplified by the almost otherworldly feel of her environment. The street lights briefly lit up the darkened cab of Madara’s truck as they drove by. Soft rock music played on a low volume, the tune making a calming background noise. The cab of his truck was warm, the heater on low and pointed at their feet to keep away the chill of the night air. The scent of leather from his cut and the smell of his cologne, the one that made him smell like a bonfire, fogged her senses.

 

She just wanted to bury herself in all of it but, more than anything, she wanted to bury herself in his arms.

 

Sakura tried to hide how high she felt and how aroused she was in that moment. She desperately wanted to slide across the bench seat of his truck and press her body against his. She narrowly resisted the urge to suggest that they find a dark spot to pull over so she could crawl into his lap. She had wanted to learn more about him after all but she didn’t want to have her wish at the expense of the incredible sex they had.

 

Just the thought of kissing him once again had her heart pounding in her chest and, with their date winding down, her excitement only magnified.

 

As they continued their conversation from the restaurant, she tried to come up with a plan for getting him back up to her apartment.

 

“What do you do in your free time? What are some of your hobbies?” Madara asked, his baritone voice drawing her further into the trance she had been in all night.

 

“When I’m not studying or working, I’m usually sleeping. Heh, kidding, kidding. Mostly… But when I have the time, I like working out and sparring at the gym with my boys. I read a lot and I enjoy learning new things, outside of medicine,” Sakura listed before turning to gaze at his profile, “What about you?”

 

“Very similar to you, actually. Working out and fighting whichever of my family members are up to the challenge. Usually my brother or Obito.”

 

Sakura blinked in surprise at that. While she knew the one armed man could defend himself (she had spotted him with a buck knife of all things during that brawl) but she was surprised to hear that he not only fought MMA but that he could challenge Madara.

 

Madara continued. “I spend a good amount of time working on my bike. I have a fondness for documentaries... I enjoy learning new skills whenever I get the chance.”

 

“Like maybe learning how to cook sunny side up eggs?” she teased with a smile.

 

He chuckled, the sound like a live wire to her heart. “If you teach me your furniture fighting techniques, hellcat.”

 

Gods Sakura loved it when he called her Hellcat. His little nickname for her wreaked havoc on her heart and made her want to rub her thighs together.

 

Madara pulled up into a spot outside of her apartment complex, parking along the curb. Before he could even throw his truck in park, she was gathering up her purse.

 

She wasn’t going to stand for just a goodnight kiss and a promise to see her again soon.

 

As he flipped gears, she unbuckled her seatbelt as casually as she could manage. She popped open the passenger door and hopped out of the truck. When she turned to face him, her hand on the door, she took in his bewildered expression.

 

“Well, are you coming or not?” she asked with a flirty smile.

 

The Uchiha responded with that wolfish grin that made her core ache as he immediately shut off his truck. She shut the door, slowly making her way towards her apartment. As she walked, she preemptively fished out the key to her door.

 

He caught up to her in just a few strides, immediately snaking his arm around her waist and pulling her against his side with a confidence that nearly made her moan already.

 

“Was I good?” he purred against her ear, his warm breath and his deep voice sending a shiver of arousal down her spine.

 

“I’ll show you when we get inside,” she hummed in response.

 

Sakura was unable to hold back the soft moan when Madara nipped her earlobe. When he chuckled at her reaction, goosebumps rose on her forearms. She felt his fingertips explore the strip of skin revealed by her high cut top. He teased her by dipping his fingertips into the waistband of her jeans, stroking the sensitive skin where he knew her only tattoo was hidden.

 

The trip across the complex and up the stone stairs to her apartment felt like a thousand miles. While his fingertips teased the sensitive skin of her belly, she kept her keys gripped in her hand, intending on remembering which key opened her door.

 

When they finally arrived at her door, his fingers were toying with the hem of her panties beneath her jeans. Her breathing was coming in short bursts as her heart pounded in her chest. She needed to hurry and get this door open before she lost her senses and demanded he fuck her against her front door.

 

When Sakura slid her key into the lock of her door, Madara gripped her hips in both of his broad hands and pulled her against his chest. She gasped when she felt his hardness pressed against her rear.

 

She forgot about the lock, instead focusing on him as she arched her body against his chest. He leaned down and pressed his lips to her neck, drawing a breathy sigh of satisfaction from her. She immediately tilted her head, allowing him better access to the tender skin of her neck.

 

After all, the bruises he had left on her last time had faded and she wanted more.

 

As the Uchiha pressed surprisingly gentle kisses to the side of her neck, his hands slid across her hips and down to the waistband of her jeans. The sound of him undoing the button to her jeans finally snapped her out of her daze long enough for her to finally turn the key and unlock the door.

 

When Sakura turned the doorknob and threw open the door, she flipped around in his arms. Her hands slid up his chest, brushing over the patches on his leather cut, as she wrapped her arms around his neck. When she dragged him down into a searing kiss, his arms wrapped around her lower back, pulling her against his broad chest and forcing her onto the tips of her toes.

 

There was nothing slow or teasing about this kiss, their union immediately escalating until teeth and tongues clashed. Her heart flew in her chest, a constant thrill of pleasure coursing through her veins. She felt like she was spinning and she wanted more.

 

Sakura slid her hands back down his chest to grab at the zippered edges of his cut. When she pulled him inside, he obediently followed her beckoning, not breaking their kiss even though he had to lean down to keep it. He closed the door behind him with his foot, locking the door immediately out of the question since it would take away precious time they desperately needed to get beneath each other’s clothes.

 

Sakura’s frazzled mind struggled with the mental map she had of the home she had lived in for the past five years. Earlier, she would have preferred that she got Madara to her bed, but his earlier teasing had vanished that thought from her mind. At that moment, all she wanted was a flat surface. And if she couldn’t even find her couch in her intoxicated state, she would fuck this man on the damn floor if she had to.

 

She barely registered when the backs of her legs touched the edge of her couch. The only thing her pleasure drunk mind could produce besides how much she wanted to feel him inside of her was that she had found a flat surface.

 

She slowly sat back on the cushions, pulling him down with her by the edges of his cut. He smoothly followed her, pushing even further until she was pressed flat against the sectional. The feeling of his weight settling between her parted thighs made her mewl against his mouth, a noise he rewarded with a bite to her bottom lip.

 

Madara held himself above her, his large form dominating hers as his wild mane of hair pooled at one side of her head. She pressed her hands flat against his chest, sliding her palms up to his shoulders before slipping down to his hips, mapping every ridge of muscle beneath his clothes. She distantly marvelled at how his incredibly soft shirt complimented the hard planes of muscle of his chest.

 

She skipped passed the hem of his shirt entirely, slipping her hands between their bodies so she could reach his belt. As she rapidly unbuckled his belt, he sensually ran his tongue across hers, encouraging her. She quickly unwound his belt and unbuttoned his pants before dragging his zipper down.

 

Sakura had never been more grateful for the fact he didn’t wear underwear than she was in that moment when his member eagerly bounced out of his parted jeans. When she wrapped her hand around his silky, rock hard length, he breathed out a sigh of pleasure against her lips.

 

When she gripped him, tightly circling her fingers around the base of his member before pulling up to close around the head, he shivered. She could feel how his focus wavered, his kiss slowing as she pumped him, and reminded him of her with a nip to his lower lip.

 

Madara growled low in his chest, roughly pressing their lips together once, before he pulled back, nearly sitting up. His hands slid down from their spots on either side of her to the front of her jeans. He finished unzipping her jeans in one rapid motion before hooking his fingers around the waistband of her pants and her panties.

 

He dragged them both down her legs, forcing her to release his member, until they were pooled at the edge of her boots. Neither one of them bothered with the then arduous task of unlacing her boots to get her pants and panties all the way off of her legs. Instead, he hooked both of her legs over one of his shoulders.

 

One of Madara’s muscled arms wrapped around Sakura’s thighs, holding her to him, as her arms sprawled out to support her. She gasped at the sudden feeling of the head of his length against her sopping folds. She moaned aloud when he pressed the the head of his cock against her clit, thrusting his member between her thighs and teasing her most sensitive spot with the underside of his hardened length.

 

Overwhelmed by the feeling of finally being touched where she so desperately had needed to be touched, one of her hands slid down her still clothed chest to the space between her thighs. She grasped the tip of his member, peeking through the tight space between her thighs and against her core. Her lover groaned deep in his throat as she stroked him a few times before he retreated from between her thighs.

 

Sakura’s free hand desperately grasped at his forearm as she felt him press the head of his dick against her soaking wet opening. She had no concerns, knowing that she was easily wet enough to take him.

 

When Madara slowly slipped into her, a broken groan fell from her lips. He slowly thrusted deeper and deeper until he was fully seated within her, him releasing a broken breath of pleasure. She dragged a breath of air into her lungs as the hand not desperately gripping his forearm scrambled for some foothold in the chaos of the pleasure she was thrown into.

 

He pressed his cheek against the side of her calf, his other arm tightly wrapping around her thighs, as he nearly removed himself from her and thrust back inside of her to his hilt.

 

“Gods, please-ah!” she cried out inarticulately, unable to produce the words needed to express how desperately she needed him to fuck her in that moment.

 

Sakura’s fingernails dug into his still clothed forearms as her free hand flew behind her to gain some traction against the cushions of her couch. She vaguely heard her lover mutter an obscenity under his breath before she was overwhelmed by the feeling of him setting a pace, roughly burying himself in her sopping passage.

 

She threw her head back, her bun tugging at her hair awkwardly in a way she couldn’t care less about in that moment. She tilted her head to the side, openly releasing the cries of ecstasy that she could no longer contain. As Madara filled her over and over, she marvelled at how perfectly his cock fit within her. His length was absolutely perfect for her, large enough to stretch her to the point of bliss but not so large as to hurt her.

 

She felt as if she could nearly orgasm with just the feeling of him pounding into her.

 

Madara leaned over her, pressing her farther into the cushions of her couch. She gasped at the feeling of the angle of his thrusts changing, the head of his dick reaching even deeper within her. Her free hand pressed back on the pillows of her couch, trying to push their bodies closer together so he could thrust into her harder.

 

When one of his hands slid across her thighs towards her center and when one of his thumbs settled against her clit, hidden between the apex of her thighs, her moans hiked up an octave. His thumb traced rapid but sloppy circles against her pleasure point but she couldn’t care less in that moment, the pressure and touch being all she needed to throw her over the edge.

 

Sakura’s pleasure mad gasps and moans filled the air of her otherwise silent apartment, her unable to hold back the sounds of her bliss. She had waited an entire week for this, had overcome her mental hurdles for this, and it had been entirely worth it. She would have been ashamed at the sounds she was making but his skilled body and her uncontainable arousal dragged them out of her lungs.

 

“I-I’m already-!” she cried out, every breath fueling a cry of pleasure.

 

“Sakura…” Madara growled as he adjusted his knees on the couch and grasped her thighs harder so he could increase his pace once again.

 

He pounded into her relentlessly, his thumb still circling her clit and the only sound filling her apartment being her cries of pleasure and the sound of skin against skin.

 

Sakura desperately pushed back against the cushions as she came hard, her entire body quaking under the force of her orgasm. She cried out, nearly sounding like she was in pain, as her dripping feminine passage clenched around his penetrating length. The feeling of her walls tightening around his unyielding cock sent even more jolts of pleasure up her spine.

 

She heard him growl in pleasure as he continued to fill her ceaselessly with his hard member, dragging out her pleasure even farther. His pace circling her clit didn’t slow either, further fueling her mind bending orgasm.

 

Sakura felt his arm tighten around her thighs almost painfully and felt as his member unbelievably hardened even further within her. Madara’s pace faltered before he buried his cock within her as deeply and roughly as he could. When he came, Sakura swore she could feel him dumping his ejaculate against her innermost wall. She gasped in pleasure as his rock hard length twitched within her, his thumb’s pace around her clit slowing to a more leisurely pace.

 

Her lover continued to draw out the last vestiges of her orgasm, twitches of pleasure still overcoming her as he rocked against her, releasing the last of his seed into her soaking passage. His teasing of her clit finally ceased, his hand sliding up a short ways until his palm pressed against her lower stomach.

 

As they both caught their breath, the Uchiha’s length still pressed deeply into her folds, he pressed sweet, delirious kisses to the sides of her calf. His hand continued to linger on her belly.

 

When he finally slipped his slowly softening member out of her, Sakura gasped.

 

Still panting, she finally gathered her mental faculties together enough to joke, “I almost thought we could have made it to my bed.”

 

He chuckled as he slid her thighs down his shoulder. He eased her feet to the floor before he sunk to his knees before her.

 

“I’m not complaining,” he hummed in satisfaction as he easily untied the knot in the laces of her boots and loosened the laces.

 

Madara tugged her boots off of her feet and tossed them behind him. He took the liberty of tugging her jeans off of her limp legs but left her with her panties. He tugged them halfway up her legs until she grabbed onto them and pulled them up the rest of the way, just quick enough to catch the cum that was dripping out of her before it stained her couch.

 

He slid up the couch to lie down next to her, pulling her into his arms. Sakura sighed blissfully, rolling over to press herself against him and toss her leg over his hips. She pressed her face into his chest, taking in his scent as she continued to try to catch her breath.

 

“Do you want to stay the night?” she asked as her one free arm wrapped around his middle, her other pressed uselessly between them.

 

Sakura intended to clear up any misunderstanding then and there so he didn’t feel the conflict she had in his home that morning a week ago.

 

“I would love to,” Madara replied immediately, his breath warming the top of her head.

 

Her smile was immediate as she pulled back just enough to lean up and press a kiss to his jawline. He tilted his head down to press their lips together sweetly.

 

The lovers stoked each other's arousal once again as their kiss slowly escalated from sweet into something more passionate.

 

* * *

 

That morning, Sakura woke up in her own bed to the familiar sensation of a pair of arms wrapped around her middle.

 

This time, however, she didn’t retreat from Madara’s embrace. Instead, she sunk back into his warm, welcoming arms and sighed in absolute contentment. At least until her desire urged her to turn around in his embrace and pepper his chest with kisses to stir him.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Inarizushi is actually Madara’s favorite food, according to the Naruto databook. Anmitsu is also one of Sakura’s favorite foods and one of her hobbies is trivia games, also from the databooks.
> 
> Also, a ninth degree black belt (grandmaster) is the highest degree that you can achieve (at least in taekwondo [generally], the martial arts style I chose to highlight since MMA is mixed martial arts). Most gyms come up with their own ranking system ranging from a white belt (beginner) to black belt (expert) with a number of degrees awarded to black belts to display their furthered training.
> 
> I put Madara, Hashirama, and a variety of other characters (all kage level in canon) in this AU at eighth or seventh degree black belts. If I were to put anyone at grandmaster level, it would probably be Indra and Ashura. If they make their way into this fic, that is... The few other characters that I would say practice martial arts in this universe, I would put at lower rankings.


	6. Scream

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content warning: Graphic depictions of violence.

Madara silently sighed for the third time that night as Sakura shot forward into a sitting position and made a frustrated noise at the massive screen in front of them.

 

His plan for their second date hadn’t gone exactly as planned…

 

The two laid in a makeshift bed comprised of numerous blankets and pillows haphazardly tossed together in the bed of his truck. Their comfortable little nest was toasty and warded off the chilly autumn air as they spent their Halloween night at the Konoha Drive-In Theater’s horror movie marathon.

 

A far cry from the drunken and otherwise wildly intoxicated Halloween bashes that the MC threw. Although it was probably better for both of them that they weren’t surrounded by blitzed men and women in little to no clothing, lest someone start a brawl.

 

Madara had, however, hoped that he could use this opportunity as an excuse to cuddle up with his old lady. It had been a pretty simple, to the point plan: take Sakura to the horror movie marathon, she’d get scared and snuggle up to him, and he’d get to spend the night cuddling his woman.

 

Never had one of his plans backfired in such a spectacular way. Instead, Sakura was enraptured by the gory movies projected into the massive screen in front of them. Sometimes she’d even jolt forward, like a fan watching a football game, and berate the characters on screen.

 

She had make comments about how a head wound wouldn’t bleed like that if someone was hit in the head with an axe (she knew, she had seen it - he also knew because he had done it), how the half dressed woman should have used the opportunity she had to take out the temporarily incapacitated serial killer instead of running away, and how the main character could have easily escaped through the locked door if they’d just kicked it in the right spot instead of uselessly tugging at it.

 

While it had been enamoring and sometimes amusing to watch his old lady’s inner Valkyrie emerge, the Uchiha couldn’t help but feel a sense of disappointment. He had wanted her affection after all, but she seemed more interested in giving commentary and making eyes at the gore on screen than in him.

 

He should have known better. Of course his hellcat wouldn’t be scared of horror movies and cling to him like a frightened dame. She was a damn ER nurse and one of the strongest women he had ever met.

 

Maybe it would have been better if they had just gone to the clubhouse for the yearly Halloween bash after all... At least he would be drunk right now, she would be perched in his lap, and he might have had the opportunity to see his woman dressed up in some skimpy outfit.

 

Sakura scoffed loudly when a barely dressed blonde woman started running and screaming, trying to escape from the power walking serial killer in six inch heels. She growled something under her breath, glaring at the screen, before she sighed deeply and sunk back into the bed of blankets.

 

She turned away from the movie to lie against him, dramatically tossing her arm around his middle and settling against his chest. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

 

“This movie is terrible,” she grumbled into his shirt.

 

Madara huffed out a laugh. “You’re just upset because the cast is comprised of idiots.”

 

She sighed in exasperation, burying her face further against him, as his hand slid down to settle on her hip.

 

“Tch, we would have taken out the killer within the first twenty minutes,” she declared, her voice muffled against his chest.

 

“We’re also highly trained in numerous forms of martial arts and unflappable in the face of gore or conflict. Not a group of half dressed teenagers with the combined intelligence of a turnip,” he reminded.

 

“Shush, you. You’re not supposed to make sense.”

 

He chuckled, running the palm of his broad hand up and down her side, memorizing the feel of the dip in her waist.

 

They laid like this for a long moment, Sakura cuddled up to him and Madara enjoying the first real bit of affection he had gotten all night. The sound of a woman screaming and a chainsaw was a strange backdrop to their second real date.

 

His wandering hand stuttered to a halt as he felt her fingers slowly begin to slide down his chest. She tilted her head up to nuzzle his neck, pressing a lingering kiss to his throat.

 

“I think I know how to make the night a bit more enjoyable…” his lover purred into his ear as her hand slipped beneath the hem of his shirt.

 

Her hand slowly slid up his chest, her fingertips sensually brushing across the defined muscles of his abdomen.

 

“Oh?” the Uchiha prompted, shivering when she dragged her fingernails down his chest.

 

“Just a thought…” Sakura hummed as her hand slipped underneath the blanket and down to the front of his jeans and cupped his already hardening length through his pants.

 

“A good thought…” he returned, his fingertips squeezing her hip as he restrained himself from bucking into her hand.

 

She chuckled softly before beginning to press lingering kisses to his neck. Her deft fingers unhooked his belt and undid the front of his jeans. She snuck her hand into his pants to wrap her hand around his now hard length, him sucking in a breath through his nose.

 

As she carefully pulled his hardened member from his pants and began to pump him, her kisses migrated from his throat up to his jaw. She pressed little pecks from his ear to his chin, following the line of his jaw, until she pressed their lips together.

 

Madara threaded his fingers into her hair, firmly holding Sakura against him as they shared a passionate kiss. She released a tiny groan as he slid his tongue across her lower lip. Her fingers tightened around his length, squeezing his tip in a way that made his member throb, as he pressed his tongue between her parted lips.

 

Their lips and tongued moved together passionately, her affection making his heart race in his chest. Her soft hand continued to pump his length as he dragged his tongue across hers.

 

She pulled away from him slowly, leaving him in a daze. His eyes widened in surprise when she gave him a sly smirk and snuck beneath the blankets. When she settled between his legs, there was a moment of anticipation, his heart racing as excitement raced down to his toes.

 

When he felt her warm mouth close around the head of his member, he sucked in a breath through his teeth and dropped his head back against the pillows.

 

Sakura took her time in drawing him into her mouth, her skilled tongue languorously circling around his member as her soft lips massaged the head of his length. Her fingers gripped the base of his cock, slowly pumping his shaft as her skilled mouth teased his tip.

 

Madara resisted the urge to buck into her mouth as his hand snuck beneath the blankets. He combed his fingers through her bangs, blindly brushing them out of her face, before he gently fisted her locks in his hand. He felt more than heard her moan, the vibrations against his member making his hips twitch.

 

Her lips sunk lower and lower down his shaft, welcoming him further into her warm mouth. His seeping tip slowly dipped deeper into her mouth until his head teased the back of her throat. She pulled back, her hand stroking his base where her lips could not reach in this position.

 

Her tongue dragged across the underside of his head as she retreated before she sunk back down again, drawing his painfully hard member far into her mouth. His fingers tightened in her hair as she unhurriedly sucked him off, alternating between taking him into the back of her throat and swirling her tongue around his tip.

 

He was quickly drawing air into his lungs, desperate to keep from groaning aloud at her treatment of him. The affection he felt behind her lust made his heart race from more than just the pleasure. He could feel his release welling quickly, overwhelmed by her slow and fastidious attention.

 

His lover released the base of his cock, her hand slipping down to grasp his sac. She rolled his balls in her soft hand as her mouth sunk down to take him deeply. His fingers tightened in her hair, silently communicating to her that he was close.

 

The Uchiha swore that he could feel her smile around his member as she continued to palm him. She drew back to run her tongue up the underside of his shaft until she dragged her tongue across the tip of his member. She tightly wrapped her lips around his head, sucking gently, before sinking down once again.

 

Once he felt his tip hit the resistance from the back of her throat, she pulled back and sunk down once again much quicker than before. After having been slowly and meticulously sucked off before, her sudden increase in speed, and the depth in which she drew him in, was nearly overwhelming.

 

He hissed out a breath through his teeth, keeping a desperate hold on the groan building in his chest. His other hand snuck beneath the blanket to sink into her hair, gripping her locks with both hands. He heard her moan as well as felt it against his cock as she continued to bob up and down his length. His member hardened even farther in her mouth, hinting at his impending finish.

 

Madara gripped her hair, holding her against him as far as she could take it, as he finally came in her welcoming mouth. Sakura’s hand continued to palm his sac, adding a whole other level to his pleasure, as he shot his hot load against her throat. Her warm mouth massaged his throbbing cock as she swallowed each burst of cum. His hips twitched under the force of his finish, his rock hard length flexing in her mouth as he came in spurts.

 

When he finally finished releasing himself into her mouth, he also released his grip on her hair. She pulled back, keeping her lips tight around his shaft to gather any remaining saliva and semen. She wrapped her lips around his tip, sucking as she swirled her tongue around his head.

 

He twitched hard, unable to hold back a growl, as she teased him. She pulled back fully, releasing his length from her mouth, but dragged her tongue across his tip one final time, dipping the tip of her tongue against the hole to gather any remaining cum.

 

When she finally emerged from the blankets, her head of messy hair popping up from between his legs, they were both panting hard.

 

Sakura licked her lips, brushing her wild hair out of her face before she attempted to finger comb the worst of it. She crawled out from between his legs, rolling over back into her side of their nest with a cat like smile.

 

“You’re going to pay for that, you know,” Madara promised, voice deep from arousal.

 

“I’m waiting…” she sing-songed in response, the sound of screaming from the forgotten horror movie making an interesting back splash.

 

He growled as he crawled towards her, causing her to bite her lower lip to hide her flirty smile. He tugged back the blankets, sliding underneath and between her spread legs. He slid his hand beneath her shirt, pulling up the fabric so he could press kisses to her soft belly. As he kissed the sensitive skin, his free hand pulled down her shorts and panties.

 

The Uchiha nipped at the tender skin beneath her navel when he smelled her heady arousal, his member already half hard in his jeans once again. He tugged her shorts and underwear down onto one ankle, exposing her to him completely beneath the concealing layers of blankets.

 

He sunk his fingers into her toned thighs, spreading her legs wide for him. One hand slid down her thigh to her center, him wanting to feel how aroused she was. When his fingertips brushed across her entrance, he softly moaned at how wet she already was.

 

Sakura was soaking from just having sucked him off, her fluids dripping from her feminine passage. He rubbed his fingertips across her opening, his lover’s thighs twitching around him. Dipping his fingers into her sopping channel, his cock throbbing in his pants at how easily she accepted his penetrating fingers.

 

He pumped his fingers into her, intending on ripping her orgasm out of her as revenge for teasing him earlier.

 

As Madara thrust his fingers into his lover’s feminine passage, he dropped his head down to press a sloppy kiss to her clit. Her hips twitched against his mouth, seeking out more friction against her most sensitive place, but he flattened his free hand against her soft belly and held her down.

 

Parting his lips, he pressed an open mouth kiss to her clit. He pressed a couple lingering kisses to her most sensitive place before he dragged his tongue across her swollen nub hard.

 

This time, he heard a broken moan spill from her lips, followed by the sound of skin against skin. He nearly smirked when he realized she had slapped her hand against her mouth.

 

His fingers continued to thrust into her slick opening as his tongue slid across her clit unforgivingly. He pleasured her relentlessly, holding her down with his strong grip to keep her from bucking against his lips or shying away from his rough treatment.

 

Sakura struggled against the hand that held her hips down, desperately trying to press her core against him harder. He took her hint and licked her clit with more force, his tongue pleasuring her most sensitive place without mercy as his penetrating fingers continued to spread her soaking inner walls.

 

He was surprised by how quickly she came, her body twitching beneath him as pleasure rocketed through her in waves. He eased up, gently circling his tongue around her clit as she orgasmed hard, her sopping opening soaking his fingers in cum.

 

Madara dragged out her orgasm as far as he could but, when her shaking subsided, he refused to release her. Instead, he roughly dragged his tongue across her clit, beginning his relentless treatment from before once again. Her hips jerked against his restraining hand as he heard her gasp.

 

He slipped his fingers out of her, sinking down so he could taste her arousal. He dragged his tongue across her opening, gathering her heady dew. He lapped his tongue against her, tasting her and making his lover struggle against his grip. He dipped the tip of his tongue into her soaking channel, swirling it around her opening twice, before he returned to her swollen clit.

 

His still wet fingers plunged into her again without pretense, her clit twitching beneath his lips as he fucked her with his fingers. His lover tried to arch against his mouth but he kept her steady with the restraining hand against her belly.

 

Tongue gently lapping against her pleasure point, he slowly increased in pressure. Her walls tightened around his fingers, as if urging him to fuck her harder, so he did. He thrust his fingers into her quicker, reaching deep within her.

 

One of her hands snuck down beneath the blanket and she tangled her fingers into his wild hair, not so gently holding him against her. He groaned against her core, drawing a shiver from his lover.

 

Madara felt as her hot walls clenched around his intruding fingers even tighter than before, signaling her impending orgasm. He swirled his tongue around her clit roughly, his fingers unrelenting, as she came for the second time.

 

Sakura’s body trembled as she orgasmed, the jolts of ecstasy shooting through her making her shake beneath his hands. He continued to pleasure her forcefully, his tongue still circling her clit unwaveringly as her passage dripped the product of her arousal down his fingers.

 

His fingers continued to reach deep within her even as he slowly eased up in his treatment of her clit. She continued to quiver in bliss as her second orgasm coursed through her until she slowly calmed in his arms

 

Determined to drag her third orgasm out of her, Madara sealed his lips around her clit and sucked. He heard her moan through her nose, her hips shaking beneath him, as he sucked on her pleasure point. He swirled his tongue around the nub in his mouth, pleasuring her exposed clit directly in a way that he knew must have been intense.

 

He refused to let up, his fingers pounding into her dripping hole so hard and fast that he could hear the wet sound the action made.

 

He continued this intense treatment of her, refusing to yield until she came for him a third time.

 

Sakura started quivering beneath him, her walls suddenly squeezing around his fingers so tightly he wished his cock was buried in her, before she came violently. Her entire body trembled, her walls clenching around his fingers in time with her throbbing clit. A burst of hot arousal flowed from her already dripping wet passage and soaked his unrelenting fingers and the palm of his hand.

 

Madara could hear her trying to hide her desperate noises behind her hand as her grip on his hair tightened to the border of pain. He continued to suck, drawing even more maddened twitches of ecstasy and even more fluids from her folds.

 

He finally released her, pulling back the hand that had been pinning her down so he could grab onto her hips and drag her closer to his mouth. She immediately bucked against his lips hard, desperate to be closer to him as her orgasm continued to thunder through her.

 

He released his hold on her clit to redraw her pleasure point into his mouth. He sucked even harder, rubbing the pad of his tongue across her exposed nub roughly and dragging more waves of her intense orgasm out of her.

 

When her thighs finally relaxed and her shaking began to subside, he released his suction and instead began to leisurely circle his tongue around her pleasure point. His fingers’ thrusts slowed until he was penetrating her gently, his digits easily sliding into her literally dripping wet core.

 

“Gods, I can’t do another one…” Sakura desperately gasped from above him, her hand sliding from out of his hair and flopping onto the bed of the truck limply, making him smirk against her folds.

 

Madara slipped his fingers out of his lover, his tongue sliding down from her clit to her soaking opening. He lapped up her pleasured fluids, groaning quietly to himself as he tasted her heady arousal.

 

He seriously considered pulling her down farther beneath the blankets so he could sink his straining cock into her dripping passage. So he could drag her fourth orgasm out of her with his member and fill her with his seed. Despite how aroused he was, he decided against it. He doubted either of them could keep their moans under control if he filled her with his length and knew that he wouldn’t be able to refrain from slamming into her.

 

He’d hate for them to get banned from the drive-in after getting caught fucking when someone noticed his truck rocking so hard.

 

He pulled back the blanket, nearly getting a head rush at the burst of cold, fresh air. His wild hair was even more messy than ever from Sakura’s demanding hands. He sucked the last of her cum from his fingers as he gazed up at her with a wolfish smirk.

 

Sakura was flushed and panting, staring down at him with half lidded eyes as he wiped off his lips with the back of his wrist.

 

The third movie of the night was already playing in the background as he helped loop her panties and shorts around her ankle and pull them back onto her hips.

 

“That wasn’t fair…” his lover whined cutely, still trying to catch her breath, as she gazed down at him with a thoroughly debauched expression.

 

“I told you you’d pay, hellcat,” he purred in response as he crawled up until he loomed over her, his hair forming a half curtain around them

 

He pressed a kiss to her swollen lips before he rolled over to lie down in his half of their love nest once again. It wasn’t a moment later until his lover fell into his arms, exhausted. She cuddled up to his side affectionately, draping her free arm across his chest as the other was pinned uselessly between their bodies.

 

Madara happily wrapped his arms around his old lady, deeply sated with her intense affection and her small body pressed so closely to his. He tugged the blanket over them more securely, her adjusting in his arms so she could nuzzle his neck.

 

He smiled warmly, tilting his head to rest against the crown of Sakura’s head. His eyes drifted back to the screen in front of them, not quite caring about the half finished movie when his girlfriend was curled up against him so sweetly.

 

His plan had turned out pretty well after all.

 

He settled his hand on the dip of her waist as his other grasped her hand draped across his chest. When he laced their fingers together, he earned a sweet kiss to his neck from his sated lover.

 

The Uchiha’s attention returned to the movie in front of him, recognizing the film as a revamp of a horror film from when he was a child. He had seen the newest movie before but it would never be able to frighten his as much as the original had terrified him and his brothers when they were children.

 

Him and his five siblings had all banded together, determined to stay up late that night to watch the movie without their mother or father to tell them they couldn’t. Even Fugaku had gotten in on the fun, finally having started to open up to his five adopted brothers.

 

The memory brought a smile to his face and he found it easier for him to enjoy the film.

 

A scene came up which was nearly identical to the scene from the original version, causing Madara to chuckle softly.

 

He remembered how this very scene had made him and all five of his brothers scream in unison as young children. He still fondly recalled how the collective shrieks of six children had made his mother and father shoot out of their bedroom like they were under attack, an M16 assault rifle in his mother’s hands and a shotgun in his father’s.

 

“Have you seen this movie before?” he asked, tilting his head so he could speak into his lover’s hair.

 

When she didn’t respond, he prompted, “Sakura?”

 

When he was met with silence again, he pulled back from her just enough to look down. His gaze fell upon her serene face, his loverhaving fallen asleep in his arms.

 

Madara smiled warmly, brushing her bangs out of her face so he could better see her peaceful expression. She looked so cute when she slept…

 

“Let’s get you home then, darling…” he whispered, carefully slipping out of her embrace while keeping the blanket wrapped around her.

 

He slid to the edge of the bed of his truck and tugged on his boots. He grabbed her flip flops from where they had been set next to his shoes before sliding out of the bed and to his feet. Walking over to the side of his truck, he opened the passenger door. He stuffed her sandals into her purse sitting on the floor of the truck before lowering the passenger seat as far as it could go.

 

The Uchiha returned to their temporary bed, climbing back into the bed of his truck. As carefully and gently as he could, not wanting to wake his sleeping hellcat, he wrapped her in the top blanket from their nest and gathered her small body up in his arms. Sakura made a sleepy noise before automatically wrapping her arms around his neck, bringing a smile back to his lips.

 

He slid out of the back of the truck once more, careful not to jostle his lover, and carried her to the cab of his truck. When he carefully laid her in the reclined passenger seat, she yawned widely, muttered something under her breath, and quickly fell back asleep.

 

Madara resisted the urge to chuckle at his adorable girlfriend, knowing that it was way past her bedtime. He secured her to the seat with the seatbelt before tucking the blanket around her more effectively. Not wanting to wake her, he closed the passenger door carefully.

 

He made quick work of balling up their makeshift nest, lodging all of the pillows and blankets into the backseat of his truck in a haphazard mess that he would deal with later. He returned to close the tailgate as gently as he could before unhooking the drive-in’s speaker from the sidewall of the bed of his truck and returning it to its stand.

 

When he hopped into the driver’s seat, he was satisfied to see Sakura was still peacefully sleeping, wrapped up like a sushi roll in his passenger seat. The scene brought a smile to his face and a warm sensation to his stomach. Before he closed the door, he pulled his phone from the inside pocket of his cut.

 

Using the dome light from his truck as lighting, Madara stole a quick picture of her, smiling down at the image on the screen of his phone of his hellcat in such a tranquil and admittedly adorable state.

 

Unable to drop the smile from his face, he tucked his phone back into his pocket and gently closed the door. Jamming his key into the ignition, he started his truck and quickly turned down the radio before the rock music could wake her.

 

Trying to be unobtrusive to the other moviegoers and gentle to avoid waking his woman, he pulled out of the drive-in lot and made his way towards the freeway to Sakura's apartment.

 

* * *

 

Madara parked as close to Sakura’s apartment as he could, shutting off his truck and stuffing his keys into the outer pocket of his cut. He hopped out, softly closing his door, and made his way to the passenger side.

 

After opening the door, he dug into her purse, fishing out her keys preemptively and singling out her house key. He looped her purse over his shoulder so he wouldn’t drop it before leaning over her to unbuckle the seatbelt.

 

When he gently gathered his old lady into his arms, she yawned cutely and nuzzled his neck. Smiling as her arms sleepily wrapped around his shoulders, he softly closed the passenger door with his foot and turned around to walk up to her apartment.

 

Sakura remained asleep in his arms, her soft puffs of breath warming his neck, as he carried her to her home. Careful to avoid knocking over half full dishes of candy left behind by trick-or-treaters and stepping around Halloween decorations which hung along the railings, he made his way to her apartment.

 

He unlocked the front door, pushing the door open with his foot and stepping inside. He slid the key out of the lock before closing the door with his foot, using his free hand to lock the door behind him.

 

Navigating her darkened apartment with help from the streetlights outside, the dim light filtering in from in between the blinds, he carried her to her bed. He laid her down on top of her blankets, carefully setting her head down onto her pillow.

 

When she was finally horizontal, she woke up just enough to drowsily whisper, “Nnn, what’s going on…? Where are we…?”

 

“I brought you home. You fell asleep at the movies,” Madara explained in a low voice, setting her purse on the floor next to her bed and dropping her keys into the bag.

 

Sakura mumbled something that sounded like a noise of understanding as she snuggled up farther into the blanket wrapped around her.

 

“Your purse is next to your bed. I’ll text you in the morning…” he whispered as he leaned down to press a sweet, lingering kiss to her lips.

 

When he pulled back, he felt her fingers weakly clinging to the arm of his long sleeved shirt.

 

“Stay, ‘dara…” she hummed sleepily, slurring his name.

 

Madara’s heart stuttered in his chest at her sweet request.

 

He opened his mouth and drew in a lungful of air to speak but found that he could say nothing but, “Whatever you want…”

 

He was unable to refuse her, especially with her saying his name in such a way.

 

Navigating by the dim light drifting in from in between her blinds, he slipped off his cut and hooked it on the edge of one of the drawers of her dresser. He tugged his long sleeve shirt off of his back, half way folding it and setting it on top of her dresser, before he toed off his boots.

 

Still dressed in his jeans, he slipped into bed and was welcomed into his lover’s waiting arms. She draped herself across him, much how she had at the drive-in, tossing the already warm blankets over him as well. He wrapped his arms around her, drawing her soft body closer to his, as a smile tugged at the corner of his lips.

 

Sakura fell asleep in his embrace nearly immediately while he remained awake. He wasn’t particularly tired but was more than happy to bask in her warmth and her affection. His heart still raced in his chest at the memory of her voice and the sweetness behind her sleepy nickname for him.

 

Madara eventually drifted off to sleep with a smile lingering on his face, protectively wrapped around his woman as they slept underneath one of the blankets from their nest and on top of her freshly made bedding.

 

* * *

 

The muffled wails of agony that echoed against the walls of the dimly lit basement were far different from the screams from the horror movies Madara had watched with Sakura just a couple days previous...

 

These screams were very much real.

 

Both the Uchiha MC president, Obito, and their new guest were holed up in a secluded farmhouse along the border between Konoha and Suna. The building they occupied was often used as a site for various business transactions, temporary storage of illicit goods, a safe house, or, like now, a secluded location where no one would ever hear someone cry out for help.

 

Izuna and Itachi had been investigating a recent surge in arsons, every one of the attacks targeting one of the Uchiha MC’s properties. While some of the properties weren’t explicitly owned by the MC, they were still operated by the club while kept under an unaffiliated name; a safety net in case the police got a warrant to search all of the Uchiha’s properties.

 

The damages from the arsons totaled in the hundreds of thousands of dollars and brought far too much police attention to the club than they were comfortable with.

 

A safe house disguised as a music shop, a brewery where the club also crafted moonshine on the side (that fire had been thoroughly investigated after the building had exploded once the stores of alcohol and the stills had become a part of the blaze), and a completely legitimate tattoo shop that the clan ran had all been hit.

 

The most financially damaging hit had been one of the warehouse that the club owned. The building in and of itself had been pricey, due to its position on the river, but the goods that had been within had been far more valuable. That building had been used as a temporary storage for a large shipment of untraceable machine pistols that had already been bought and paid for. The shipment had been set to be delivered to one of the leaders of the street gang The Swordsmen of the Mist and the owner of The Dead End, Zabuza Momochi.

 

The club had scrambled to come up with another shipment of the same machinery, wanting to maintain a good relationship with the organization. They had taken the entirety of the financial blow, a deal which wound up costing them upwards of ten thousand of dollars.

 

The Swordsmen of the Mist was ran in a unique way with seven different bosses ruling over seven different factions in seven different cities. The Uchiha’s wanted to maintain this alliance and had taken the entirety of the financial blow because the Swordsmen still held close ties to a previous boss, Kisame Hoshigaki. The burly man had left the group to become part of an international criminal organization known as the Akatsuki. An organization which was instrumental in the MC getting ahold of the weapons and other goods that they ran in Konoha.

 

To lose the alliance with the Swordsman could mean losing the alliance with the Akatsuki which could spell the financial and quite possibly literal death of the clan at the hands of the Senju.

 

Madara had known that the surge of arsons was the Senju MC’s doing, especially since the robberies from the month previous had been orchestrated by Tobirama, an act caught on camera. Madara had been furious by this development, especially since he had finally relented and attempted a peace talk with Hashirama, a man Madara had once considered a friend as a child. The two presidents had come up with terms of their armistice, mostly involving the splitting of the city into two separate territories.

 

When Madara had been delivered the footage of Tobirama and a group of Senju’s attacking one of their warehouses, the Uchiha had sent a raiding party to invade the Senju’s territory and take back what was stolen. After a week of assaults and raids to get back their stolen goods and numerous bloody altercations with the Senju, Hashirama and the rest of the Senju MC had made their appearance at The Dead End, the bar where Madara had first met Sakura.

 

Despite knowing that the recent attacks were perpetrated by the Senju MC, the leader of the Uchiha MC had needed proof. And after a week of investigation, Izuna and Itachi had presented him and the rest of the officers in the club with recovered security footage from a few of the properties.

 

The only thing that Madara had needed to decide on revenge and to send his right hand man out to acquire a source of information.

 

Despite his handicap, Obito had been incredibly quick and efficient when abducting one of the higher up Senju patch holders and dragging them to this secluded building in the middle of nowhere. Madara always knew that he could count on his Sergeant at Arms to take care of problems such as these. To show his gratitude, Madara had insisted that he take over the information gathering while Obito made himself comfortable in the safe house above the basement where their guest now found themselves.

 

Not just that, but the thought of his young cousin dirtying his hands even farther with the blood of this man sickened Madara more than the thought of doing it himself.

 

Obito had taken him up on his offer, having only stopped down in the basement once to thoughtfully drop off a cup of coffee for the president, something the wild haired Uchiha had been appreciative of.

 

A muffled cry of agony filled the air, accompanied by a long squelching noise. The sounds were followed by a sickening pop and a desperate gasp for air.

 

Madara sat back in his chair, rolling the still warm, severed digit in his fingers. The amputated finger, cleanly separated from his guest’s trembling hand with a pair of pruning shears, wept scarlet droplets onto the already stained floor beneath their feet.

 

He dropped the severed finger onto a metal tray laid out on the table next to him, the digit joining a small pile of teeth and fingernails. He set down the red stained shears, disturbing the slowly growing pool of blood in the tray. Grabbing the horribly besmirched rag from the wooden table, he wiped off the fresh blood from his stained hands and forearms.

 

With a disinterested sigh, he leaned forward and tugged the gag out of the Senju’s mouth.

 

“Are you ready to talk yet?” Madara asked simply, sitting back in his chair and crossing his arms across his chest.

 

“I’ll never rat, f- _fucking_ Uchiha filth! I’d rather die!” the man hissed, blood trickling from his lips. His words were garbled, him struggling to speak coherently from not just the pain but from the teeth the Uchiha had wrenched from his mouth earlier.

 

His useless hands trembled violently, his fingertips missing fingernails and his fingers horribly broken, twisted, or missing. His wrists were red and raw from struggling against the wire that bound his hands, feet, and waist to the tarnished metal chair.

 

If he escaped this place, he would be crippled for the rest of his life. He would never ride a motorcycle again.

 

“You know it’s not that simple, Senju. You know that you’re going to die in this place no matter what. The ending will always be the same...” Madara informed emotionlessly, reaching over the filthy metal tray to grab his cup of coffee, bloody fingerprints decorating the surface of the white ceramic, “The question is whether it takes an hour… A week… Longer?”

 

The Senju’s furious expression dropped, his gaze also dropping to the floor. The sound of the man panting to catch his breath was the only sound in the room as the Uchiha president calmly took a sip from his lukewarm coffee.

 

Madara set his cup back onto the table. “This suffering will continue until I get the answers I want. How long do you think you can hold out?”

 

The brunet glared up at the Uchiha through his sweaty bangs, his crippled hands uselessly twitching against his bonds. He remained silent, conveying his venom through nothing but the hatred in his glossy eyes.

 

“What’s your decision now?”

 

The Senju spit out a mouthful of blood onto the filthy floor at Madara’s feet before growling, “Fuck you.”

 

“Very well.”

 

The Uchiha tugged the gag back over the man’s mouth as the man struggled in his seat, fighting against the wires binding his body to the metal chair. He bit into the gag in preparation for the impending pain.

 

Madara calmly perused the pile of tools on the bloodied tray before selecting a scalpel.

 

“Now… where were we?” he asked darkly as he stood, looming over the bound man before him.

 

* * *

 

Madara knocked on Sakura’s door, stepping back and waiting patiently for his old lady to answer. A plastic bag filled with styrofoam takeout boxes from the nearby diner hung from his hand.

 

Despite a couple days having passed, he could still hear the agonized cries of that Senju and the sickening sound of breaking his body echoing through his mind. He held no fondness for torture. He was a straightforward man and delivering undue agony onto someone, even his enemies, left him with an uneasy sense of regret.

 

To get the information he needed to protect his family, however, he would do what he had to do.

 

It had taken a few of days of torture before they had gotten the information they needed. Madara had tried to keep Obito away from it as much as possible but the scarred man had thought that the elder Uchiha had been patronizing him and had demanded to be treated with the same respect as any other member of their club. Madara had relented although he quickly wished he hadn’t when he took over later that day, after finally getting some sleep, and saw the state Obito had left their guest in.

 

The Senju had had more perseverance that Madara had expected, especially in the face of his sergeant at arm’s brutality. But, as Madara had also expected, it only took so much pain before a person chose to be allowed to die.

 

The Senju had finally told Madara of all of the upcoming deals between the Senju and the Fuma family and had given him the location of all of the Senju safe houses that he knew of. The Uchiha had given the man a couple days of reprieve from the pain as a reward for talking, even giving him food and water and allowing him to sleep and use the restroom, as he sent Itachi and Izuna to investigate if there was any truth behind the man’s admissions.

 

After all, people would also say whatever they had to to stop the pain.

 

When Izuna had returned to them saying that the information had checked out, Madara had actually been surprised. He had expected the Senju to lie at first and for the torture to have to continue until he produced the truth.

 

To show his appreciation for not being forced to continue the atrocious information gathering, the Uchiha president had thanked the Senju and allowed him one final cigarette before finally showing him mercy by putting a bullet in the back of his head.

 

Obito had taken the corpse off for disposal with a blasé comment that there were leftovers in the fridge for the elder Uchiha for once he was done with cleanup.

 

Madara had already convened a meeting with the rest of his officers and they had come up with a plan of action for taking their revenge on the treacherous Senju MC. While they waited for the right opportunity, they continued to run surveillance.

 

But for now… All Madara wanted was to see his girlfriend and wind down after a stressful week. To try to forget about everything he had done for the good of his family. To remember that he was human and not a monster...

 

When her door finally opened, he was surprised by Sakura flying into his arms. He dropped the bag of takeout to wrap his arms around her when she hopped onto him, looping her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist.

 

“Well, hello to you to, gorgeous,” he laughed as he supported her with an arm beneath her rear as she clung to him like a spider monkey.

 

He nuzzled her neck happily, the takeout and the past couple days quickly becoming unimportant in the face of her affection. She pulled back from him, adjusting in his embrace just enough to press a sweet, greeting kiss to his lips.

 

“Hi,” his lover hummed against his lips, drawing a warm smile from him which she kissed again.

 

“Did I do anything to earn such a greeting?” Madara asked, gazing into her emerald eyes.

 

Sakura smiled, a blush spreading across her cheeks. “I just missed you.”

 

He felt a tug at his heartstrings at her admission and pressed his lips to hers once again to hide how much her words had affected him. “And I missed you.”

 

Leaning down just enough to loop one finger through the nearly forgotten bags of takeout, he carried her inside. He pushed the door shut with his foot, toeing off his boots near her pile of shoes. He dropped the bag onto the floor near the coffee table before he flopped down on the couch on top of her.

 

She huffed out a breath as he landed on her, sprawling out on top of her. “Hey, get off! You’re heavy!”

 

“Perhaps you’re just tiny,” he teased, grabbing onto her wrists and pinning her to the couch.

 

Before he could lean down to kiss her more fully, she interrupted him by revealing, “Hey, if you keep this up, you’re not getting your present!”

 

Madara paused.

 

“Present?” he parroted, surprised.

 

“Yeah, a present. So, do you want it or not?” Sakura asked, wiggling in his arms in a way that silently communicated he would have to release her to get it.

 

He rolled off of her, Sakura skipping off into her bedroom with a smile on her face. He sat properly in the couch, relaxing against the cushions, as he waited for her to return. She took little time, coming back to him with her hands hidden behind her back. Climbing over the couch, she straddled his thighs and settled down against him.

 

“I like this present so far,” the Uchiha purred as his hands settled onto her hips.

 

His old lady giggled in amusement before revealing her present to him: a pair of pajama bottoms.

 

He blinked in surprise. “Pants?”

 

“Your jeans can’t be comfortable sleep clothes. So I, uh, got you these for when you stay the night,” she explained with a nervous smile and a blush.

 

Madara could sense her trepidation, as if she was unsure if she was pushing the boundaries of their relationship. As if she was worried that her gift, and the meaning behind it, was too much at the early stages of their dating.

 

He wished that she didn’t feel that trepidation because this sudden surprise, and her unspoken request, warmed his heart.

 

Sakura’s gift strangely felt like one of the most meaningful presents he had ever gotten in his life. Never had one of his girlfriends gotten him such a thoughtful gift, the unspoken words being that she wanted him around more for more than just sex. Sakura wanted him to not only be comfortable in her home, but for him to spend more time with her, wrapped up in bed in an affectionate embrace as opposed to (or rather in addition to) a sexual one.

 

Her gift told him that she wanted to take their relationship further, that she felt more for him than just lust.

 

As Madara stared down at one of the most touching gifts he had even gotten, a strange combination of joy and amusement swirling in his mind, a smile spread across his lips. He absolutely loved the present, even if she did have _horrible_ taste.

 

After all, the pajama bottoms she presented him with were black and had a repeating pattern of colorful cartoon fish on them.

 

“You have terrible taste,” Madara teased even as he wrapped her up in his arms, pulling her closer to him.

 

“Hey, I picked them because they were soft! And you should have seen the other ones, they were way worse,” Sakura explained as she happily cuddled up against him, wrapping her arms around his neck.

 

He laughed, his heart swelling in his chest as he reached up and tilted up her chin to kiss her sweetly. He wanted to share this warm feeling building in his chest with her, he wanted to show the tenderness he felt for her and his appreciation for her gift.

 

The stress from the past few days, and the sickening thought that he was touching his lover with hands that were soaked in blood and that had taken a life just a couple days previous, all melted away in the face of her warm body and her affectionate kisses.

 

“Thank you, Sakura…” he whispered against her lips before kissing her again.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I snuck in a little easter egg that I wonder if any of you caught… When you write Madara’s name in katakana (マダラ), as Kishimoto does, Madara translates to “pacific cod”, a kind of fish that is a winter delicacy in Japan. That’s why the pajama bottoms that Sakura got for him have a cartoon fish print.
> 
> It’s only when you write Madara’s name in kanji that it translates to “spotted”, a form of writing that Kishi generally doesn’t use, especially when there is a katakana alternative.


	7. Music

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The scenes from the last chapter are necessary to remind everyone of what Madara is in this AU. I’ve shown a great amount of the kind side he shows to those he cares about and the soft side he shows to the woman he’s slowly falling in love with. I haven’t, however, given much of a glimpse into the dark parts of his life that he hides from the public, the bloody aspects of outlaw life that are slowly going to come into the spotlight as the story progresses. However, I assure you that there will absolutely never, ever, be any form of sexual assault in my stories. Sexual assault is unforgivable and can never lead to love no matter how some people might try to excuse it or, even more sickening, romanticize it.

Since Madara had chosen the venues for their first two dates, Sakura had declared that she was going to be the one to choose the third. He had absolutely no qualms about this, actually quite curious to see what his little hellcat would come up with for their next date.

 

He had been in the middle of completely rebuilding the engine from a luxury jet belonging to some overly wealthy business executive, his hair pulled up into a high ponytail to keep his locks out of his face and out of the machinery in front of him, when his phone had pinged in his pocket. He wiped the grease from his hands onto the rag hanging from his jeans before stepping off of the ladder leaning against the plane to check his phone.

 

He was more than surprised when he had opened the text from his old lady and was presented with picture of tickets to a concert playing in Oto that weekend. Some band called the Sound Four.

 

After googling the group and listening to some of their songs, he found that he enjoyed their heavy metal music. He was especially interested since the singer of the group was a woman who, apparently, found no situation or cuss word inappropriate for her lyrics. He found their melodies reminiscent of Slayer, music which brought back fond memories of his anarchic youth.

 

Curious, he read the biography on the group. He found it amusing that the group called themselves the Sound Four despite having five members. From what he read, it was because the two guitarists were identical twins and considered themselves to be the same entity. A bizarre but interesting twist to the already diverse group of young individuals.

 

He texted her back during a break he took to eat lunch, saying that he loved her idea and that he was excited to see her again. Shortly followed by texts asking if she was going to wear a skimpy outfit for him since they were going to a concert.

 

Despite how much he liked Sakura’s idea, the thought of them being so exposed, at a concert with thousands of other people in a city away from Konoha, made him anxious. It would be an easy opportunity for a Senju to swoop in and attack either him or, more importantly, Sakura. And with the war between the clubs having escalated so far, and with the Senju having found out that one of their members had been taken and more than likely killed (they would never find the body), they would be searching for an opportunity to take their revenge.

 

Madara considered his options for a long moment before an brilliant idea occurred to him.

 

Switching screens on his phone so he could access the group chat with all of the officers of the MC, he sent out a message.

 

‘ _I have an idea for the next rally for the club_ ’

 

Before he got a response from any of his officers, he got another picture message from Sakura. Curious, he opened her message and nearly growled at the picture she had taken.

 

His lover was laid out on her bed, wearing nothing but a pair of lacy panties. Her arm covered her bare breasts teasingly, her fingertips playing with and hiding her rosy nipple.

 

‘ _Something like this? <3’_

 

Madara bit the inside of his cheek as he seriously considered taking the rest of the day off and paying his hellcat a visit. A thought that he contemplated for the entirety of the day as she continued to send him dirty pictures, thoroughly distracting him from his work and his plans for the next club rally.

 

While he had tried to be responsible and stick around until he had at least come to a reasonable stopping point on his project, he had given up once Sakura had sent him a video of her playing with herself. He immediately left the hangar and headed to her house to reward her by fucking her against her coffee table.

 

He wound up not even making it home that night, instead showering at his girlfriend’s house and spending the night, finally getting the opportunity to wear his gifted pajamas as they fell asleep together, completely sated and wrapped up in each other’s arms.

 

* * *

 

The night of the concert quickly approached and Madara soon found himself surrounded by the brothers and sisters of his club as they prepared for the run.

 

He was perched on one of the picnic tables outside of the clubhouse, watching as his club mates geared up for the concert as he sipped at a lager. Loud, raucous laughter and shouts of excitement broke through the enthusiastic commotion surrounding him. The anticipation of the crowds of Uchiha was palpable as they all drank, smoked, and partied as they waited for the last of their club mates, and his own special guest, to arrive.

 

When Sakura finally appeared, pulling up at the already opened gate leading into the clubhouse in her familiar jeep, she hesitated for a moment before one of his club mates guided her towards a spot that she could park. The crowds parted for her as she pulled in and parked her vehicle, Madara standing from his perch on the picnic bench to greet his lover.

 

As the Uchiha approached and after his old lady emerged from her vehicle looking distinctly confused, he took a moment to admire her outfit. Despite her teasing, Sakura had chosen a cute little outfit that accentuated her fit body. He admired her black Megadeth band tee, one that had been butchered into a scrap of cloth that one might call a crop top, that showed off her scarlet red bra and the soft skin of her belly. A pair of ragged, skin tight jeans clung to her toned legs and rounded rear and a pair of doc martins were strapped to her feet.

 

She wore an unzipped red hoodie with a tiny leather vest over it, a near copy of his own minus the patches. He secretly envisioned what it would look like with a ‘Property of’ patch sewn onto the back.

 

Sakura’s candy colored hair was pulled back into a messy ponytail, her bangs hanging in her face, and a twisted black and red bandana was tied around her head like a headband. Her makeup was dark and dramatic, her lips painted a cherry red and her eyes rimmed with kohl, a stark contrast from her normal, light look.

 

He felt unremarkable in his own chosen outfit which consisted of mostly the same thing he always wore: a long sleeved shirt pulled up to his forearms, his cut, a pair of dark wash jeans, black gloves, and his boots. The only change he had made was that the shirt he wore was a Slayer band tee he had bought during one of their concerts a couple decades ago.

 

Sakura, on the other hand, looked like a little rockstar and, when Madara finally reached her and she smiled at him in greeting, he didn’t even bothered resisting picking her up and tossing her over his shoulders. She laughed loudly as he carried her into the clubhouse, depositing her onto one of the bar stools.

 

“Hello, my little hellcat,” Madara greeted with a wolfish smile before pressing his lips to hers in greeting.

 

“Hey, careful! Lipstick!” Sakura warned, giggling as she reached up and used her thumb to rub off a smear of red from his lips.

 

He smirked, shaking his head in amusement before waving to Kagami behind the bar.

 

“What is all of this? What’s happening? Everyone seems so excited,” she asked with a smile, her eyes scanning the room and taking in the club members gearing up for the rally.

 

“I made the concert into a run for the club. Nearly all of the chapters of the club in the state are going to be meeting us at the concert,” Madara explained, taking the shot glasses Kagami set on the bar with a smile and a nod of thanks.

 

“You… made our date into a run?” Sakura asked, her smile dropping as her lips parted in surprise.

 

“I know it can be a bit confusing and overwhelming at first, but when everyone finally gathers, it will make more sense. You’ll be riding at the front of the pack with me on the back of my bike,” he clarified, handing her her shot glass which she took.

 

Sakura stared down into her full glass, a frown pulling at the corner of her painted lips. Madara paused as he sensed her apprehension, concern building within him.

 

He leaned close, forming a private space to discreetly ask, “What’s wrong?”

 

She glanced up to him before gazing back into her shot glass for a long moment.

 

“I just thought-” Sakura started softly before being interrupted by the jarring noise of an air horn.

 

Both of them turned to face Shisui who proudly, and perhaps a bit drunkenly, stood on top of one of the tables in the club house. An air horn was in one hand, a beer in the other, and a megawatt smile was spread across his lips.

 

“Let’s get a move on people! Time to go! Get on your bikes and get into position, we’re heading out!” the road captain yelled, dramatically gesturing towards the double doors leading outside.

 

Shisui’s declaration was met with a round of cheers and cries of excitement as the members of the club made their way outside and to their bikes. The Uchiha all bumped and jostled each other in anticipation, the energy of the crowd building as they all headed to their bikes outside and gathered the rest of their clan.

 

Turning to give Sakura his full attention once again, Madara asked, “What were you going to say?”

 

“It’s nothing,” Sakura replied quickly, barely sparing him a glance as she threw back her shot and slid off of her stool, “Let’s go then…”

 

The Uchiha frowned before quickly downing his own shot and leading Sakura towards his bike. After all, even though he was concerned about his old lady’s obvious displeasure, it would look bad if the president of the mother chapter was the one to hold up the entire run.

 

* * *

 

Madara led the pack as they flew down the freeway towards the venue.

 

As president, Madara rode at the front of the pack with the rest of his club riding in formation behind him. The thrum of his own motorcycle was only overpowered by the roar of all the others behind him.

 

Izuna, as the vice president, and Obito, as the sergeant at arms, rode directly behind him, side by side. As road captain, Shisui could have ridden directly behind him but the younger Uchiha had chosen to stay beside Itachi in their formation. Izumi followed behind Itachi and Shisui with Kagami riding beside her. All of the other patched in members of the club rode behind the officers with Sasuke, their only prospect at the time, tailing behind at the very end of the pack.

 

Madara kept a close eye on his surroundings, not only on the lookout for any possible threats to his family but also paying close attention to the herd of police that followed them. A substantial number of officers from the Konoha police department dogged their steps, keeping a critical eye on the club.

 

While Madara was aggravated by their stalking of his club, he understood that the Konoha PD would be considerably alarmed by the mobilization of so many branches of the Uchiha MC. He realized that a run involving so many chapters of the 1% club could be perceived as dangerous by the police. Despite this, he hoped that the cops stayed in their place. The police could follow the club all they wanted but his family wasn’t doing anything illegal or anything worthy of being harassed.

 

As long as the cops stayed a safe distance away, the Uchiha MC president found no reason to intervene. He doubted that the police would get involved with the MC’s run either way, this slow pursuit being more of a show of force than any intention to do anything at all.

 

After all, the club drastically outnumbered the cops, even with Konoha PD having combined forces with Oto PD, and he knew the police weren’t stupid enough to start something here and now.

 

What concerned Madara more than the pretentious police officers was the pink haired woman on the back of his bike.

 

Despite Sakura having asserted that nothing was wrong when they had spoke earlier, he could easily tell that she was aggravated. She didn’t hold onto him as she had before when they rode, her arms loosely wrapped around his waist instead of holding him tightly as she had before.

 

He knew that she was upset but didn’t know why yet. She had been willing to talk to him about what was bothering her but that attitude seemed to have changed when it was time for everyone to leave. He hoped that she would once again be willing to share her thoughts with him so they could salvage their date.

 

The last thing he wanted was for Sakura’s first choice for one of their dates to be disappointing for her. Although he failed to see how what was happening around them could be anything less than thrilling.

 

Madara smirked as he watched patched in men and women fly around the cops on the freeway. Even with passengers and even though they rode upon heavy Harley Davidson’s, many of them popped up onto their rear wheels as they flew by, showing off to the mother chapter.

 

He watched, incredibly impressed, as a woman from the women’s only chapter in Nadeshiko stood atop her bike, expertly balancing on her seat and handlebars as she flew by at well over eighty miles per hour. She threw her head back in what he could only describe as a howl before dramatically dropping back onto her seat and speeding off.

 

Farther from them, he watched as a group of men showboated off for the general population driving towards the concert as well. They all showed off, performing supermen, flamingos, and switchbacks for the thrilled civilians.

 

All three men were showed up by a female patch holder from Kumo with umber skin and a wicked smile. She pulled up next to them and popped her Harley into a 12 o’clock wheelie, her bike straight up and down. Their excited observers nearly became fanatical, watching as Madara’s family showed off their stunts on their heavy bikes.

 

How could Sakura be disappointed with this turn of events? This would be the first time she got to truly experience a run and the wildness that came with it.

 

As they got closer to the stadium like venue, more and more Uchiha slowly converged around them. Madara could make out more and more city names from the various chapters as they approached, the bikes and cars all coming to a slow stop as they funneled into the acres wide parking lot.

 

When the rest of his club mates realized that the mother chapter had arrived, they all parted ways for his pack to enter the venue first. As they pulled into the massive parking lot and as he kept an eye out for their honorary parking spots, his gaze flicked across the hundreds of Uchiha partying in the parking lot.

 

Men and women both took part of the festivities, some doing burnouts on their bikes and blowing out their tires with glee while others did circle burnouts, filling the air with the acrid scent of burnt rubber.

 

Others took part in a number of classic games such as the slow ride and barrel push, bringing the Uchiha MC mother chapter president back to when he played the games in his youth. He curiously watched newer games being played, a part of him wondering if Sakura would ever be partial to these games.

 

He watched as a woman jumped from bike to bike as the two riders rode along side of each other at a fair pace. Even more interesting, he watched a game of trust as men and women riders were blindfolded and lead through a cone obstacle course by nothing but their passenger’s voices in their ears.

 

Madara wasn’t surprised by the amount of smoking and drinking everyone was doing but was surprised by the sheer number of people who had come out. His plan for the run had worked out incredibly well so far just by the turnout.

 

When he finally found the row of empty parking spots set aside for the mother chapter of the club, him and all of his club mates pulled into their spots in perfect unison. Izuna parked directly next to him with Obito beside him, followed by the trio, Kagami, the rest of the patch holders, and Sasuke at the very end.

 

Being prospect, it was expected that Sasuke would stay behind and look after the bikes but, based on the conspiratorial looks on Shisui, Itachi, and Izumi’s faces, Madara assumed they would take their youngest family member out to have a little fun.

 

Madara wasn’t surprised when Itachi hopped onto the back of Izumi’s bike and Shisui snagged up Sasuke and dropped him onto the back seat of his own bike.

 

The president shook his head in amusement as he watched the four ride off towards the others of the club, thinking that his young nephew had been doing an incredible job as prospect and deserved a little bit of fun. Something the youngest Uchiha would have a lot of by taking part in the biker games that the trio seemed to live for (well, at least Shisui and Izumi).

 

After all, the excitement in the air was absolutely palpable with the hundreds of Uchiha MC members ramping up the energy of the concert. The sun hadn’t even set yet so the music hadn’t began but, even so, the venue was nearly suffocating in how thrilled everyone was.

 

When Madara shut off his bike and Sakura and him dismounted, he gazed at his old lady staring at the rows of dozens of motorcycles on either side of them. He frowned as he took in her unhappy expression, hoping to get a moment with her to discuss what was bothering her so deeply.

 

The president noted when Obito and Izuna took off on their own, knowing that they were going to speak with the owner and operator of this establishment. While he hoped the owner would be open to further deals in the future after bringing his venue so many customers, he expected very little from the enigmatic man.

 

Focusing instead on his lover, Madara looped his arm around Sakura’s shoulder and guided her towards the entrance to the outdoor venue. He could tell she was still bothered since she not only remained quiet but didn’t cuddle up to his side like she normally did when he had his arm around her shoulders. She was stiff as she stewed unhappily, looking anywhere but at him.

 

They walked through the crowds of Uchihas and their companions, as well as numerous strangers, who were all also making their way into the venue.

 

All of his club mates greeted the president of their mother chapter, the leader of their club, with varying degrees of intensity and affection. Some patted him on the shoulder in a brotherly manner, others shook hands, some plastered a kiss to his cheek, some threw their arm around his shoulders and pulled him, and even Sakura, into a crushing hug. Nearly all of the Uchiha, however, had some commentary to give about his old lady.

 

“So you’re his old lady, huh? Wow, boss, she’s a looker!”

 

“Goddamn, prez, how’d you catch a woman like her?”

 

“Nice to meet you, gorgeous! Keep him in line, would you?”

 

By the time they made it to the box seats that Sakura had bought for them for their date, she was fuming. Madara opened his mouth to ask her once again what was wrong but she cut him off as her shallow emotional dam finally broke.

 

“I can’t believe you’d make our date into one of your biker rallies!” she finally berated, glaring up at him unhappily.

 

“It’s just a safety precaution... I’d hate for anything to happen in such a big place like this,” he tried to explain, hoping that she would understand the reasoning behind his actions without him having to go into further detail about why this place would be dangerous without the club here.

 

“That’s ridiculous! Now there are hundreds of your clubmates floating around and I can’t-” she started before she was interrupted by an intoxicated Uchiha MC patch holder from the women’s only chapter in Nadeshiko.

 

“Hey prez! Great idea for a run! Hot wife by the way!” the Uchiha slurred drunkenly as she passed, eyeing Sakura lecherously before bouncing off of a railing and continuing on her way.

 

“See! I can’t get a minute to you for myself!” Sakura yelled, throwing her arms up in the air in exasperation.

 

“This is just to keep you safe,” Madara tried again, leaning in close to her and setting his hands on her hips, “I don’t know what would happen if a Senju showed up and saw you with me.”

 

She glared at him, crossing her arms across her chest. She broke away from his affectionate embrace, turning to flop down into her chair in their box seat. Her glare slowly softened until he could see the very real sadness behind her anger.

 

“I wanted this to be you and me… not the club and me…” she admitted, frowning unhappily, as she stared out at the opening band getting ready to play.

 

Madara frowned as he took in her depressed state, suddenly feeling a twinge of guilt at having made this concert into a run for the club. He wanted to explain to her why it was important that everyone was there, that he had done it for her protection because he cared about her and didn’t want her to get hurt.

 

But before he could sit down next to her and try to get her to understand, her point was proven once again by Obito setting his hand on Madara’s shoulder to grab his attention.

 

“We need to talk,” he declared simply before turning and walking away, leaving the two alone.

 

“I’ll be right back…” Madara sighed regretfully, briefly considering leaning down and pressing a kiss to his girlfriend's cheek to comfort her. In her current state, however, he figured that he was more likely to catch an elbow than a returning kiss, so he let her be.

 

“Sure…” she grumbled, turning her body away from him completely as she sunk into her chair, dejected.

 

He paused for a long moment, not wanting to leave her like this, but soon turned and followed Obito a short distance away. The opening band began their first song as he turned away.

 

The young Uchiha glared at Madara as he approached and the club president wondered what he had done to earn the scorn of two of the most important people in his life. He briefly pondered if Izuna was off somewhere in the venue, silently fuming over something Madara had done as well.

 

“This is a shit idea, Madara,” Obito hissed, viciously unhappy.

 

The scarred man’s eyes darted across every passing stranger in the venue, his shoulders as tight as a bow string as his hypervigilance overwhelmed him. He hated being around so many strangers that he couldn’t trust, so many people that could kill those he cared about… again. Despite being surrounded by Uchiha MC members, it seemed to do little to soothe his anxiety.

 

“What’s happened?” Madara questioned sharply, eyes narrowing in anticipation.

 

“Nothing. Yet. Izuna and I spoke to that creep Orochimaru since you’re so busy with your old lady. He says he’s fine with our presence here but he’s not parting with any of his properties, especially this one. This run was a fucking waste,” he growled in response, neary baring his teeth at an unknown man who stared at Obito for too long as he walked passed.

 

“Perhaps in regards to the acclimation of more territory, but there’s a key aspect you’re overlooking.”

 

“Oh yeah? And what would that be?” Obito spat, displeasure rolling off of him in palpable waves.

 

“All of the members reaffirming their bonds. When was the last time that all of the chapters came together like this, Obito? When was the last time you saw everyone so contented?” he asked simply, gesturing to the groups of ecstatic Uchiha all around them.

 

Each and every club member mulling about the venue had smiles on their faces. While the emblem on the back of their cuts were all the same, the Uchiha’s family crest standing out proudly amongst the crowds, the names of the cities on their backs varied.

 

The mother chapter in Konoha, the one which Madara and Izuna lead, dominated the hordes of Uchiha. They were the largest club in the bunch as well as the first. The clubs from all the major cities in the country, Suna, Kiri, Iwa, and Kumo, could also be spotted among the crowds.

 

The smaller clubs, those that occupied Ame, Kusa, Taki, and even the women's only club of Nadeshiko could be spotted as well, the members just as rowdy and respected as the rest.

 

Some were drinking together, secretly passing around flasks as they sipped on their overpriced beers. Some discreetly shared joints and blunts, the smell of burning marijuana mixing with the pungent scent of cigarette smoke. Others danced, or slammed into each other in a violently affectionate way, in the grass field in front of the stage as the opening band played.

 

Every man and woman, every nationality and ethnicity, with the Uchiha clan crest emblazoned on the cuts on their backs appeared to be enjoying themselves but Obito frowned at the crowds nonetheless.

 

“Being happy doesn’t make the club money,” Obito grumbled.

 

“You’d be surprised what a high moral does during a war…”

 

The younger Uchiha raised his one visible eyebrow at his elder, the other hidden behind his usual black bandana. “You’re distracted.”

 

“And you’re far too pessimistic. Do try to enjoy yourself at least a little bit. See, look there,” Madara stared, grasping Obito by the shoulders so he could turn him to face a group of strangers a short ways away, “That blue haired woman is giving you bedroom eyes.”

 

Obito looked towards where the elder Uchiha was gesturing, catching eyes with a blue haired woman, her wild hair pulled up into a ponytail. She wore a green jacket with a fur collar and jeans so tight they might as well have been painted on. Her cherry red lips parted into a smirk as she boldly winked at Obito. The Uchiha’s eyebrows came together as he stared at the young woman, confused by her overtly flirting with him.

 

“When was the last time you slept with a woman?” Madara questioned bluntly.

 

The younger Uchiha leveled his mentor with a venomous stare. “None of your damn business.”

 

“Good, then you can go talk to her.” He patted the one armed man on the shoulder affectionately before turning to leave.

 

Obito grabbed onto his forearm before stepping forward to bring them back into speaking range.

 

When he spoke this time, his tone was serious and accusatory, “Having so many of the club out here, and none of us in Konoha where the damn war is growing far worse, is a bad move. You can’t move around the entire club just because you’re worried about your damn girlfriend. Get your head out of your ass.”

 

Madara returned his glare with a sharp look of his own, his teasing demeanor from before vanishing. “Your opinion has been duly noted. But do keep in mind that everything I do is for the good of our family, whether or not you’re capable of seeing it.”

 

The elder Uchiha glanced off to the space behind Obito before a sly smirk spread across his lips. “And good luck, you miserable bastard.”

 

Obito’s expression morphed into one of confusion.

 

When Obito turned to look behind him and found that the blue haired woman was confidently striding up to him, the younger Uchiha’s old self emerged for just a moment as he stuttered, “O-oh.”

 

Madara turned away without another word, glancing back over to where Sakura was sitting. He spotted her candy colored locks wrapped up in the messy ponytail on the top of her head and breathed a sigh of relief.

 

Maybe he would go grab them some overpriced beers as a way of extending an olive branch. He hated to see his old lady so upset and wanted her to be able to enjoy herself despite the club being present. He hadn’t considered that she might get upset that it wasn’t just them, but perhaps he could grease the wheels of their date with a little bit of alcohol.

 

Taking one last look at her and noting the number of patch holders in the vicinity, Madara decided she would be safe to leave alone for just a few minutes. As he walked towards one of the stands selling alcohol, he registered a sudden silence which hinted at a change in bands.

 

Once it was his turn to order, he bought a sweet, flavored ale for his old lady and a lager for himself. After paying for the drinks and as he waited for the bartender to pop the tops off of the glass bottles, the distant sound of a woman gruffly greeting the crowd from on stage met his ears.

 

The Uchiha nearly laughed at how the woman’s greeting was more like an insult to everyone in the crowd and how she had methodically checked off every cuss word in the English dictionary during her introduction.

 

After a roar of enthusiastic cheering from the crowd, Madara recognized the driving drum beat that began to sound through the venue. The Sound Four had come on stage.

 

Perfect timing then. He thanked the bartender as he accepted his drinks before making his way back to the box seat where Sakura was waiting.

 

Only to find her gone.

 

The Uchiha’s first reaction was alarm. He felt a surge of panic as he wondered if a Senju had snuck through the defenses he had placed by making this concert a run for the club. It would have been fairly easy to just dress in plain clothes and to find his pink haired girlfriend, to use the noise of the concert and the crowds as a way of disguising knocking her unconscious.

 

He felt like a fool, he should have never left Sakura unguarded in such a place. He had too many enemies, too many people who would see him dead for the monstrous things he had done for his family. Too many people who would happily use her to get to him.

 

As Madara’s anxiety mounted even farther, his gaze shot around the venue in a panic to find even just a flash of her pink hair.

 

His eyes scanned the rest of the box seats and he didn’t spot her. He turned behind him and gazed up at the grass field, his eyes flicking across the hundreds of people laid out on blankets and folding chairs. It wasn’t until he looked down into the grass field below, into the hoards of moshing fans, that he finally caught sight of a familiar head of unusual colored hair.

 

Madara breathed an immediate sigh of relief, the tension in his shoulders releasing as he stared down at the mosh pit. He felt a twinge of upset at having been ditched until he watched his lover launch a brunet with a mullet and round sunglasses, and who was nearly double her size, into the ground as if he weighed nothing.

 

He watched in muted awe as his five foot nothing old lady not only held her own in the hoards of violently thrashing and shoulder bashing fans but caused chaos of her own. She was knocking around his club mates and strangers alike, rocketing people aside with the hidden power in her tiny body.

 

After watching her for a long moment, Madara shrugged to himself, dismissing his earlier upset. Might as well join in on the fun if that’s where she had decided to invade. Perhaps she would be less displeased with him after venting some of her ire onto the throngs of moshing fans.

 

As he made his way over to the railing he would need to leap over to reach the pit below, he deposited both of the drinks he had bought onto an occupied table. The two men, one with a bandage across his nose and the other with bangs that completely obscured one eye, who appeared to be on a date jerked in surprise at the sudden gifts.

 

Uncaring of the fact he had startled the two men on their date, Madara smoothly hopped over the railing and dropped down into the grass field below.

 

As Madara strode towards the pit, he caught sight of the man Sakura had tossed earlier storm up to her.

 

When the brunet made a fist and punched Sakura across the face so hard her head whipped to the side, a surge of white hot fury burned through Madara’s veins. His rage was accompanied with a burst of adrenaline that slowed down the world around him. He growled darkly as the entirety of his attention focused in on this stranger and the fact that he was going to rip his fucking arms off and beat him to death with them.

 

_How dare he touch his old lady._

 

As the Uchiha strode towards the man who had made his shit list faster than anyone in his life, pushing through the crowd uncaringly, he was literally beaten to the punch by Sakura.

 

He was startled by her skilled attack just enough to break him from his murderous trance. He watched, impressed, as his hellcat’s punch dropped the mullet haired man to his knees. She rapidly raised her leg high in the air before kicking her attacker across the face with such intensity that he heard the sound of her boot colliding with his skull over the music.

 

When the man fell to the ground in an unconscious heap, the crowd around them, Uchiha MC members and strangers alike, burst into a deafening roar of victorious cheers.

 

Madara stared at his girlfriend in wonder, watching as she threw up her fists and triumphantly cried out, “Cha!”

 

His gaze just caught sight of another man, this one with a head of messy brown hair and a pair of round glasses, stalk toward Sakura from the edge of the parted crowd. It was obvious that this man was a friend of the unconscious trash heaped onto the floor and that he intended to get revenge. Before the brunet could sneak up behind her, however, Madara grabbed him by the back of his neck and tossed him to the ground behind him effortlessly.

 

The man scrambled to his feet, baring his teeth at the murderous Uchiha, before charging at him. The Uchiha smoothly ducked beneath the brunet’s charge, using the man’s momentum to toss him over his shoulder. The man flipped midair and before the man had even landed flat on his back, Madara was upon him, laying a punch so swift and powerful into his cheek that it took two more before the Uchiha realized he had already knocked the man unconscious.

 

The cheers around him were deafening as the club members watched their president and his old lady lay out two men in such a spectacular way. As a couple patch holders from different cities unspokenly volunteered for the job of clean up, dragging away the two unconscious attackers, Madara turned to face Sakura.

 

His eyes raked across her form, taking her in and making sure she was okay. She rapidly closed the distance between them, the intense look on her face making him hesitate for a heartbeat, before she leapt into his arms. Her powerful thighs closed around his waist and her hands immediately dug into his hair.

 

When Sakura sealed their lips together in the most violent and passionate kiss Madara had ever received, the crowd exploded around them.

 

The world outside of him and Sakura immediately melted away in the face of his lover’s fierce kiss. His arms shot out to support her, gripping her tightly and holding her to his chest.

 

She immediately demanded entrance into his mouth with her tongue. Madara nipped at her tongue when she pressed it against his lips, drawing a moan from her as he instead invaded her mouth and stole back the control.

 

Sakura’s fingers tightened in his hair, dragging him closer to her, as their kiss rapidly escalated. Their teeth periodically clicked together with how violently they were kissing, desperate to be even closer to one another than was possible.

 

When she ripped herself out of their kiss, leaving him in a violently aroused daze, she leaned down to press her lips to his ear.

 

“Find a place, Dara, I need you to fuck me _now_ ,” Sakura commanded against his ear before biting his earlobe, sending a rush of blood down to his already hard length.

 

His keen eyes rapidly took in his surroundings, the hoards of fans giving the two lovers a wide berth as they continued their aggressive dancing. He looked to his side and caught sight of the perfect opportunity: a little goat trail which circled around the edge of the box seats and disappeared behind the stage.

 

Madara wasted no time in carrying her towards wherever this path took them, hopefully to some semi-private area that hid them just enough in the darkness of night so he could sink his straining cock into her eager body. She pressed kiss after kiss to his neck as they disappeared from the crowd.

 

As he made his way around the bend of the stage and towards a darkened, unoccupied area, Sakura sunk her teeth into his neck. He growled, his fingers digging into her thighs as he decided that this semi-darkened area was a good enough spot.

 

He unhooked one of her legs from his back, her slipping down to her feet. Grabbing onto her hips roughly, he spun her around and shoved her against the back wall of the stage. She made a noise of pleasure as her hands pressed against the wall.

 

Forcing his knee between her thighs, he pushed her legs apart as he rapidly undid his belt and unzipped the front of his jeans. His throbbing cock eagerly bounced out of the front of his pants as she undid the button and zipper on her own jeans.

 

The Uchiha dragged her pants and panties down her thighs just far enough to access her feminine channel. Grabbing onto her hip roughly with one hand, he dragged her backwards until her back was arched sharply and she was displaying herself to him.

 

Using his free hand, he positioned his weeping cock against her slick hole. Without any further pretense, he sunk his rock hard member into her. Sakura moaned loudly and shamelessly, arching her back even farther to allow him deeper into her tight walls.

 

Madara wasted no time in setting a pace, giving Sakura no time to adjust to his girth as he immediately began to pound into her. His hands settled onto her hips, his fingers gripping her hard as he tugged her into his thrusts.

 

His lover braced herself against the wall of the stage with one hand as the other immediately shot to between her thighs. Her fingertips traced frantic circles around her clit as she used her bracing hand to push off against the stage and thrust back against him.

 

Sakura’s unhindered moans, nearly drowned out by the loud rock music, went straight to his head. His hands dug into her flesh even harder as he filled her sweet hole over and over. Her walls were hot and tight around his penetrating member, her passage squeezing around him so perfectly that he was certain they were made for each other.

 

Madara wanted to feel even deeper within her.

 

Releasing one hand from Sakura’s hips, he pushed down against her shoulder blades until she bowed. He felt the tip of his cock slide deeper inside of her, his head soon pressing against her plush, inner barrier.

 

Madara heard his lover’s moan just overcome the music as her fingertips clung to the edge of the stage for balance. She arched her back sharply, allowing him farther inside of her until he was completely seated within her folds.

 

With the tip of his member now reaching her deepest place, his hand returned to her hips so he could get the grip he needed to set a brutal pace. He snapped his hips against hers, forcefully burying himself in her soaking hole. Her moans were wild and untamed as he drove into her, him taking his pleasure from her small body as her fingers frantically pleasured her nub.

 

Madara felt as his lover’s release began to build, her walls starting to desperately clench around his member penetrating her so ruthlessly. He groaned in his chest as he continued to snap his hips against hers.

 

When Sakura came, it was with a desperate, near animalistic cry that clearly overpowered the music for one blissful moment. He growled in the back of his throat as her fluttering passage gushed around his cock, her fluids soaking the base of his length and the front of his jeans.

 

She refused to let up in her own pace around her clit, dragging out her violent orgasm as she continued to cry out brokenly. He didn’t relent in his brutal treatment of her, his rock hard member still slamming into her spasming hole as roughly as he could manage.

 

His vicious treatment of her seemed to greatly satisfy his lover because, not even half a minute since her first orgasm had passed, a second rocketed through her small body.

 

Sakura’s cries of ecstasy were near feral and perfectly timed with each of Madara’s merciless thrusts. His head was spinning from the pleasure, his length so hard within her that all she could do was yield to him.

 

With her second orgasm having come so quickly, and with the feeling of her sopping passage dripping her hot fluids down his member, he could no longer hold on. His fingers dug into her hips so hard he knew that it would bruise as he fully seated himself within her twice.

 

The Uchiha groaned low in his throat as he came as deeply within her as he could manage, her spasming walls massaging his throbbing length. He continued to thrust against her, trying to press even more deeply into her channel, as he released spurts of hot ejaculate against her welcoming inner barrier.

 

It took a long few moments for them both to come down from their sexual high, fueled even further with the rush from their fights and their victories. The sound of heavy metal music did little to help, both of them struggling against the adrenaline and endorphins pumping through their blood that made them want to keep going.

 

Madara could feel his member refusing to soften, even after having released his seed within her. His length remained hard, cradled in her faintly twitching walls. Just as he had been about to remove himself from her, she began to rock against him.

 

His length slowly slipped in and out of her as Sakura undulated against him, her hand desperately gripping the edge of the stage as she remained deeply bowed and submissive to him.

 

“Don’t you dare stop!” Sakura demanded over the music, peeking over her shoulder to stare up at him, arousal clear on her face.

 

Madara briefly wondered what he had ever done to earn the affection of the warrior woman who demanded he continue to fuck her, even after two orgasms. His incredibly powerful lover who allowed him to dominate her after she won her own battle. The goddess like woman who took her pleasure in his vicious treatment of her, him also fueled by his fight, and not only loved it but commanded that he give her more.

 

The thought immediately vanished as his hands returned to her hips so he could better fill her needy hole with his once again rock hard member.

 

* * *

 

Madara sat perched in a seat in the meeting room for the officers at the clubhouse, his feet propped up on the circular table as he balanced on the back legs of his chair. He tapped away at his phone, a lingering smile stretched across his lips, as he texted with Sakura.

 

They talked about everything and nothing at all, their conversation easy and flowing as he absorbed everything he could from their interaction.

 

His conversation was suddenly interrupted by a text from Kagami, surprising him. Madara spoke to the young Uchiha fairly frequently when he was present at the club, even though his attendance had become much more rare as his classes became far more challenging. Even with their familiarity, getting a text or even a phone call from the younger man was concerning in how infrequent it was.

 

Switching screens, Madara read the first message on the new conversation between them.

 

‘ _Hey prez, got a present for u. A pic taken at the Sound 4 concert a few days ago_ ’

 

Madara’s eyebrows furrowed together in confusion as he stared down at the message. A brief sense of anxiety welled within him as he wondered if someone had caught a picture of him and Sakura behind the stage that night…

 

The thought vanished as quickly as it came. After all, Kagami wouldn’t be so cheerful about such a development and certainly wouldn’t text him about it unless he was hunting for an ass kicking…

 

After his brief panic passed, he was more realistically concerned that someone had gotten a picture of him with his old lady’s cherry red lipstick smeared all over his mouth and neck. After all, neither him or Sakura had remembered that she had been wearing lipstick when they had fallen under the thrall of pleasure that night.

 

Not just that, but neither had noticed for some time as the venue had been so dark. They had already returned from their violent love making and were perched in their box seat, nursing a couple of overly expensive beers as Sakura made herself comfortable in his lap, when she had finally noticed. When she had discovered that he was covered with her lipstick, she had spent five minutes cleaning their faces with napkins from one of the food stands and giggling uncontrollably.

 

In the darkness of the venue, she had missed a perfect lip print that remained on his neck, close to the junction of his shoulder. He had discovered the mark that next morning when he had gone to brush his teeth after they had woken up in her apartment.

 

Madara had found that he felt an instant fondness for the splash of color, the placement, and what the mark meant to him. He had taken a picture of the cherry red lip print on his neck, saving it for a later time, before calling his lover into the bathroom to show her how she had marked him. They had fallen prey to the pleasure of each other’s bodies once again before he finally got around to wiping the rest of the lipstick off of his throat late that morning.

 

The delay between Kagami’s text and this picture seeming to stretch on as Madara considered the possibilities and the suspense was beginning to grate on his nerves. He could only hope that it wasn’t a photo that his old lady would find displeasing. He had witnessed her wrath second hand and wanted to avoid either himself or one of his family members being forced to contend with a furious pink haired woman trained in numerous forms of martial arts and possibly armed with a piece of furniture.

 

The president’s silent questions were answered when a picture message from the young Uchiha appeared on his phone.

 

The wild haired Uchiha’s jaw nearly dropped as he stared at the thumbnail on his screen. He immediately tapped on the picture, bringing it to full size.

 

Madara took in the crisp, professional, absolutely stunning picture taken just after his and Sakura’s fights in the moshpit that night had concluded.

 

He gazed at the photo of Sakura, perched high in his arms with her legs wrapped around his waist and her hands in his hair, kissing him with such an intensity that he could relive that entire moment just staring at the screen of his phone.

 

Madara had never thought of what him and Sakura must had looked like at that moment, but when he considered it now, he never would have imagined that they had looked so perfect together. She looked breathtakingly beautiful, the power in her small form shining through even on screen. Her eyes were tightly closed and her hands were clinging to him firmly, her fingers buried in his hair as they shared a passionate kiss. He looked completely enraptured by her, his eyes also shut but his arms holding her almost reverently.

 

They were both lit up brightly, the camera having captured the perfect moment where the lights from the stage had been crisp. The crowds of people behind them were blurred but, even so, it was easy to see the frenzied expressions of joy and adrenaline as they danced. He could nearly hear their animalistic cheers mixing with the loud metal music.

 

His phone vibrating in his hands, snapped him from his reverie. He closed the picture to return to the conversation with Kagami.

 

‘ _Pretty good, huh? Ur prob going to hear from our cousin Aiko, she’s the 1 who took it. She wants to post it to her insta but needs ur and Sakuras permission_ ’

 

‘ _Sure, send her my phone number if she doesn’t already have it. I’m going into a meeting now but I’ll get back to her. And I’ll talk to my old lady_ ’

 

‘ _U got it! U and her look really good together, btw. She seems really good for u. Ttyl_ ’

 

Madara smirked before opening the picture of him and Sakura once again.

 

As he gazed down at the stunning picture of him and his lover, he reflected upon his life, trying to figure out what he could have possibly done to earn the affection of the his hellcat. What benevolent miracle he had performed to earn the favor of the gods. He had done so many monstrous things in his life that he couldn’t figure out why the universe had rewarded him with her affection.

 

Madara thought of the past two months and how Sakura had so quickly turned from the most pleasurable one night stand of his life to his old lady. How she had gone from a complete stranger to someone he couldn’t stop thinking about.

 

Even without the mind-blowing sex, she was quickly becoming an integral part of his life. A part of his life that he didn’t want to give up.

 

The Uchiha spent every free moment he had either with her, texting her, on the phone with her, or thinking about her. He adored the sound of her voice, the way she texted, the thoughts in her head, how she so openly showed her emotions, the power in her form, the softness of her skin, the warmth of her body, the way she smelled, the way she smiled, how fiercely she cuddled, how she loved to explore his tattoos, how she snored so cutely in her sleep, the pleasure she shared with him, her beautiful body, how she called him a pet name…

 

Gods, the only pet name he had ever been called was Firefly and that was by his mother when he was still just a boy, hardly as tall as a motorcycle let alone riding one.

 

Madara cherished every moment he spent with Sakura, talking to her, getting to know her better, hearing about her past and the fantastic thoughts in her mind. He thought of how she blew him away every day with something new and fascinating about her, whether it be an event from her past, one of her numerous skills, or her astounding knowledge.

 

He couldn’t explain how she was able to so effortlessly soothe the turbulence in his mind, a consequence from the atrocious things he had done for the club. Her presence washed away all of his concerns, finally allowing him to quiet his mind and bask in her affection. He had even noticed that when he slept with her wrapped up in his arms, he hadn’t had his regular nightmares.

 

When he wasn’t with her, he felt like he was missing something important. He felt lost when he was by himself in his house, a home that felt empty and cold and far too quiet without her warm presence to fill it.

 

Madara wasn’t even sure what to do with this change of heart. The strength behind his feelings, and the fact that she was quickly becoming someone that he never wanted to leave his life, left him at odds with himself. These kinds of emotions had never occurred to him before and he didn’t know what they meant or what to do with them.

 

His attention was broken by the appearance of the trio. Itachi, Shisui, and Izumi greeted him with varying levels of enthusiasm, Itachi declaring that everyone was here and was heading up for the meeting.

 

As the trio turned off and dumped their cell phones into the cardboard box in the center of the table, Madara sent two final messages to Sakura.

 

The first was the picture Kagami had sent him and the second was a message on how he looked forward to seeing her that following day. He shut off and dumped his phone in the box just as Obito and Izuna appeared, following the same process everyone else had.

 

Itachi gathered up the box and walked out the door to set it outside before closing the sound proofed double doors to the meeting room and locking them behind him.

 

When he settled back down in his seat at the round table, Madara spoke seriously.

 

“The armament deal between the Senjus and the Fumas is set to take place in two weeks. We’ve already amassed the equipment we’ll need and the Senjus still appear to be unaware of the information we received from our previous guest… Now, are there any new developments or problems that we should be concerned about?”

 

* * *

 

Sakura leaned against the nurse’s station, hiding her phone from the other members of her medical team as she texted Madara.

 

Normally she would never disrespect her superiors, the senior doctor Dr. Kato, the doctors in training, and the first year residents who made up her team, like this. Especially with her being the lowest point on the totem pole as the medical student. But she just couldn’t stop thinking about her lover and wanted to talk to him.

 

Sakura was happier being with Madara than she had ever been with anyone she had ever been with. He treated her better than any of her exes, showing her more respect than anyone she had ever dated. He was so incredibly thoughtful and kind to her. He listened to her every word so intently and seemed to commit everything she said to memory. He was so openly affectionate with her, never showing even the slightest amount of embarrassment when kissing or holding her in public. He had hardly been phased when she had discovered his face had been smeared with her lipstick the night of the concert, finding the fact more amusing than humiliating.

 

She was particularly enamored with Madara’s chivalrous behaviors: how he opened doors for her, how he would walk up to her front door to pick her up for their dates instead of rudely texting her, and how he would offer her sweet compliments that were so much more thought out than “you look hot”.

 

Not to mention she couldn’t get enough of the sex and how she hadn’t even come close to getting bored of the creative man’s incredible body.

 

She never would have expected that the older man would become someone so incredibly important to her. He was in her thoughts constantly and when she wasn’t busy with work or her studies, she wanted nothing more than to be with him.

 

When she was with him, it was like nothing outside of them truly mattered. All her worries - worries about her studies, about her job, about her future, about his secret life - melted away when he wrapped his arms around her.

 

Sakura recognized the feeling slowly building in her chest…

 

But despite her excitement, trepidation and fear lingered just beneath the surface.

 

What did Madara feel for her? How would this even work? What other dark secrets would she uncover? Was she even safe? Would this even go anywhere?

 

It was so much easier when they were just two strangers finding meaningless pleasure in each other’s bodies… But now, with this warmth growing in her chest, with the time they have spent together, with what he’d shared with her about his life, with him continuing to shatter her every expectation… It had become so much more complicated.

 

Even though Sakura struggled with these thoughts, she struggled with the thought of letting Madara go even more. She could no longer imagine her life without his presence to fill it and was nearly frightened by how easily he had taken such an important part in her life.

 

As she continued to text, completely distracted from the outside world, it took a moment for her to realize that someone was talking to her.

 

“Sakura!”

 

The sound of her name snapped her out of her daze, Sakura’s eyes shooting up to meet the exasperated gaze of the dark haired senior doctor.

 

“You need to focus. And you’re being disrespectful. Put your phone away and focus on your patients and the nurses,” the dark haired woman reprimanded, leveling her with a stern look.

 

“Ah, I’m so sorry, Dr. Kato. I’ll put it away,” she apologized immediately, embarrassed, as she dropped her phone back into the pocket of her scrubs.

 

“See to it that it stays away. You’re already a nurse so I expect more from you that these other students. Don’t disappoint me,” the dark haired woman explained, her words harsh but her tone bordering on friendly, before adding on with a smile, “And I’ve told you this a dozen times already, just call me Shizune.”

 

“Of course. I’m sorry… Shizune,” Sakura continued, dropping her head as a sense of shame washed over her.

 

She needed to get her head in the game. She was in her final year of medical school and would be taking her second and third exams of the four exams in the Konoha Medical Licensing Examination which she needed to pass to be licensed. She had already passed the first with flying colors but knew that the day long tests only got more difficult as she progressed.

 

She had already gotten to do most of her specialized clinicals, her current and her goal being in the operation room with the two women who had inspired her to get into medicine: Dr. Shizune Kato (who had earned her medical degree while working as a nurse, much like Sakura) and the miracle worker and genius surgeon Dr. Tsunade Senju.

 

If Sakura wanted to one day be their equals, she needed to act like the professional she was. Especially if she wanted to impress Dr. Senju.

 

Sakura had been justifiably alarmed when she had discovered that the hot headed woman who had earned her admiration as a child had been a member of the Senju family. She had spoken to the blonde briefly, trying to discreetly suss out her association with the Senju MC.

 

The elder woman had given her a blunt reply, stating that while her cousins were the president and vice president of their club that she remained neutral to their ‘hyper masculine hyper bullshit’. That she was the lead surgeon of the best hospital in the country and couldn’t afford to be biased when lives were on the line. And that Sakura shouldn’t worry even though her best friend from when she was a kid was an Uchiha.

 

Sakura carefully left out that her boyfriend was the president of the Uchiha MC and the two women never spoke of their associations again.

 

She desperately wanted to impress the elder women and one day be their equals. And to do that, she needed to remain professional and to focus on her studies.

 

When she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket, she glanced from side to side, looking to see if anyone was watching. Instead of tempting the fates once again and possibly getting yelled at by the fiery tempered Dr. Senju this time, she snuck off to the bathroom.

 

Fishing her phone out of her cell in the privacy of the restroom, she unlocked her phone. She smiled at the picture of her and Madara, taken by one of the club members at the Sound Four concert, which she had secretly set at the background of her home screen.

 

She tapped onto the icon for texting before opening up her conversation with her boyfriend once again.

 

‘ _Just got yelled at for texting, have to go. I’m gunna turn my phone off so don’t worry. I can’t wait to see you tonight_ ’

 

There was a pause before her phone vibrated again, his returning message appearing on her screen.

 

‘ _Would you be comfortable with coming to the clubhouse and meeting the rest of my family?_ ’

 

She paused for a moment before a wide smile spread across her face.

 

‘ _Absolutely_ ’

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A 1% club is generally considered to be an “outlaw” club by the public, although the reality behind it is much more complicated than that black and white description.
> 
> A “Property of” patch is a patch that women who aren’t a member of a 1% club wear to distinguish themselves as not only being the old lady of one of the members but as being a member of that club (although not to the extent that the patch holders are). It serves as a warning to others that that woman is to be treated with the same respect as a patch holder.
> 
> While Shizune’s last name is never stated explicitly, she is the niece of Dan Kato (Tsunade’s dead ex). So, one could assume her last name is Kato.
> 
> I’m not sure how many of you caught this but the two men who were on a “date” at the Sound Four concert and who Madara startled when he dropped the beers onto their table were Kotetsu and Izumo. Also, even less obvious, the woman who was flirting with Obito was Guren (a Sound kunoichi from the anime for you manga readers). And even LESS obvious than that is that the two men that Sakura and Madara knocked out in the moshpit were Yorio Akado and Misumi Tsurugi, the two Sound ninja who were part of Kabuto’s team during the first Chuunin Exams.
> 
> I’m curious, how many of you figured out who the characters were without me telling?
> 
> Also, a little bit of a guide for the additional chapters of the club. There are the main villages aside from Konoha: Suna (Village Hidden in the Sand), Kiri (Village Hidden in the Mist), Iwa (Village Hidden by Rocks), and Kumo (Village Hidden in the Clouds).
> 
> The smaller clubs are Ame (Village Hidden by Rain), Kusa (Village Hidden in the Grass), Taki (Village Hidden by a Waterfall), and even the women's only club of Nadeshiko (The Nakeshiko Village in the Land of Water). I wanted to be inclusive in my writing by including more women and people of color in this club. Sexism and racism is a huge issue in the motorcycle world and I wanted my fic to be as open minded as it should be.


	8. Confession

Shifting into neutral as she pressed down on the brake pedal of her well-loved Jeep, Sakura came to a stop in front of the tall wooden gate leading into the Uchiha MC compound. The crisply painted club emblem stared back at her as she sent a text to Sasuke saying she was there and patiently waited for the gate to open.

 

She turned down the volume to her stereo but her fingers made up for the distracting music by tapping a senseless rhythm on her steering wheel. She forced herself to stop her tapping but soon replaced that habit by nibbling on the edge of her lower lip.

 

Sakura was nervous.

 

She wasn’t frightened of meeting the rest of the Uchiha MC. She had grown up with Sasuke and Itachi. She was familiar with Izumi and she had met Shisui a handful of times. She was in a relationship with Madara. She knew that they were good people and that she could feel safe with them.

 

That didn’t mean that she wasn’t nervous about making a fool of herself in front of Madara and Sasuke’s family.

 

Her first impression on the Uchiha family hadn’t exactly been a positive one. Or at least Sakura found it difficult to believe that joining in on a bar brawl and hooking up with their president had been a positive first impression.

 

Her second impression hadn’t been much better, since his family had only seen her for a minute before Madara had carried her off to his bike, the both of them making out the whole way.

 

Sakura figured that the third impression had been better than the first and second but had still ended with her getting into a fist fight and fucking her boyfriend in public...

 

She wanted to show the Uchiha family that she was more than just some overly violent woman who was always looking for a fight. That she wasn’t just taking their leader out for a spin to satisfy some fetish or passing interest. She wanted them to see that she was a woman of character, that she could be trusted, and that she deeply cared for Madara and Sasuke.

 

Sakura sighed, leaning back into her seat and releasing her steering wheel.

 

Proving herself sounded so easy in her head but actually doing it seemed like a tall order…

 

The fretting woman’s thoughts were interrupted by the wooden gate slowly swinging open. As the electric gate opened, she caught sight of Sasuke on the other side. She waved to him in greeting and he returned the gesture before pointing at a spot in the lot where she could park her vehicle.

 

She shifted her Jeep into first gear before working the clutch and the gas. Her little vehicle pulled into the lot where she parked a safe distance away from all of the neatly parked bikes of the MC members.

 

She forced her vehicle into park before shutting off the engine and unhooking her seat belt. When she opened her door and stepped out, Sasuke was already waiting for her.

 

“Hey, Sasuke,” she greeted, reaching out and pulling her childhood best friend into a hug.

 

He readily returned the affectionate gesture, looping an arm around her waist and squeezing her back. “Hey.”

 

Sakura pulled away, giving him a once over. The Uchiha looked belligerent and sleepless. His eyes were bordering on squinting, dark bags hanging heavily beneath them, and his ever present scowl was deeper than ever.

 

“Wow, you look like shit,” she commented, quirking an eyebrow.

 

Sasuke leveled her with a flat stare. “Thanks, I feel like shit.”

 

“When was the last time you got a good night’s sleep?”

 

“I haven’t slept throughout the night in weeks... Some naps are just longer than others.”

 

“You sound like me during finals week. Here. I got you something…” Sakura started before leaning back into her car to grab a paper bag from the nearby burger joint off of her passenger’s seat.

 

He gratefully took the bag from her outstretched hand and immediately unrolled the top.

 

“I knew there was a reason I was still your friend,” Sasuke commented before gathering up a handful of fries and shoving them into his mouth. Leaning against the side of her vehicle, he released a sigh of satisfaction that bordered on a moan.

 

“I even got you the kids meal. It came with a toy,” Sakura continued with a grin, digging into the paper bag in his arms and pulling out a tiny plastic kunai.

 

He chuckled through his mouthful, shaking his head in amusement, before swallowing. “You read my mind.”

 

Sakura smiled at her old friend, happy to see him brighten up after what had been a stressful few months. She had never seen him more worn down than since he started prospecting for the club and could only hope that he was accepted into the fold soon. Not just so he could finally accomplish his dream and not just so he could finally relax but so she could finally get some more time with her best friends.

 

It was so rare nowadays that both her, Sasuke, and Naruto could find time to hang out as a group. More often than not, it was either her and Naruto, her and Sasuke, or Sasuke and Naruto. She couldn't even remember the last time she spent time with Ino, let alone any of her other friends...

 

Their schedules never matched up, especially with her working as a nurse, doing rounds at the hospital for med school, and pursuing her relationship with Madara, with Sasuke working as a mechanic for the club, doing his prospecting, and trying to find time for his old lady Karin, and with Naruto spending time with his girlfriend Hinata and having deciding that becoming a firefighter and then running for mayor could be a good way to work his way up to governor (where Naruto got these ideas baffled both her and Sasuke and how Hinata dealt with it, no one knew).

 

Sakura just wanted her boys back.

 

Especially after having felt like she had nearly lost Sasuke a couple weeks ago after their confrontation about Madara...

 

While Sakura and Sasuke’s interactions were still colored with the Uchiha’s general disgust over her dating his uncle, Sasuke had eventually apologized for what he had said to her during their fight.

 

It had taken a few days (and more than likely some choice words from Naruto) but, while she had been in the middle of studying one night, a knock had sounded at her door.

 

* * *

 

Sakura blinked slowly as she was pulled from her studies by the sound of someone knocking on her front door. She shook her head to return herself back to the world of the living after having been sucked into the chapter on hematological disorders for the past hour.

 

She stood from the chair in front of her desk, stretching and popping nearly all the vertebra in her spine. She scratched her belly, revealed by her tank top sliding up during her stretch, before yawning widely.

 

Sakura glanced down at her pajamas, a loose tank top and a pair of shorts, and decided that whoever it was could deal with her in her comfortable clothes.

 

As she made her way towards her front door, another knock, this one louder, sounded.

 

“I’m coming!” Sakura called out as she strode up to her front door.

 

She unlocked and swung open the door and was shocked to find Sasuke standing on the other side, his hands buried in the pockets of his cut as he glared at her door frame, refusing to meet her eyes.

 

Sakura’s surprise immediately melted away as she glowered up at the Uchiha. She was still livid with him for having so cruelly insulted her just a few days previous and having him just pop up at her apartment with no warning brought her rage right back to the surface.

 

He better have a damn good reason for showing up at her doorstep.

 

Before she could growl out what he wanted, Sasuke, without looking away from her door frame, blurted out, “I can’t even begin to explain to you how disgusted I am by you having a sexual relationship with my uncle-”

 

“We’re dating now, actually,” Sakura interrupted in a snarl, roughly crossing her arms over her chest and glaring up at the Uchiha, “He called me his old lady.”

 

Sasuke’s gaze snapped to her at that, a disgusted sneer forming on his face.

 

“Ugh, dating? Gods, gross…” the Uchiha parroted in disbelief before shaking his head and continuing, “Ugh, whatever. Despite that, and despite the fact that it’s a shit idea for you to get involved with _anyone_ in the club, let alone _him_ … I’m sorry.”

 

“Sorry for…” Sakura prompted, making a cyclic gesture with her hand as she stared up at him expectantly.

 

If he wanted her forgiveness he’d have to come up with a better apology than that.

 

“I’m sorry I yelled at you, alright? Stop trying to drag this out,” Sasuke grumbled, glaring down at her as he shifted uncomfortably.

 

Sakura leveled him with an unimpressed stare. “Y’know, I didn’t quite hear that first part with how loudly you said that second part…”

 

“Hn... I’m sorry, _okay_? I shouldn’t have yelled at you… I… ugh…” Sasuke took a steeling breath before blurting out the next part as quickly as he could force it through his teeth, “I value your friendship more than anything and the thought that I could have lost my best friend over something like who you decided to date terrifies me…”

 

When Sakura’s jaw dropped in surprise, Sasuke took in a quick breath and tacked on, “Even though your choice in boyfriend material is spectacularly disturbing, I’m sorry and I’ll leave you alone about it.”

 

“Says the guy who’s still dating the chick who keyed my car because she got it in her head that we were sleeping together…” Sakura reminded, her arms unfolding from across her chest as she quirked an eyebrow at the Uchiha looking distinctly uncomfortable in her doorway.

 

“Not important... Besides, you and Karin are friends now, you even let her give you that tattoo,” Sasuke replied, pulling a hand out of his pocket to jab an accusing finger at where he knew her tattoo of a cherry blossom was.

 

“Yeah, _now_. After you kept dating her for a year. And besides, she’s a great tattoo artist, despite being batshit crazy. But that’s _not important_ ,” Sakura retorted, propping her hands on her hips.

 

“You’re right. What _is_ important is that you forgive me so we can go get ramen with Naruto and forget this ever happened.”

 

Sakura snorted out a laugh, the fury and moroseness from the last few days finally dissipating in the face of Sasuke’s apology. “Fine. I forgive you. And I do appreciate your concern for me, despite how rudely your concerns were delivered, asshole.”

 

Sasuke scoffed before coolly replying, “Yeah, yeah, now hurry the hell up. I haven’t eaten all day and dumbass keeps texting me. If we don’t hurry, he’s going to show up and try to _help_.”

 

Sakura laughed outright this time. “Sure, sure. Let me put on actual clothes. Go help yourself to the fridge. I think there are some cherry tomatoes in there.”

 

Sasuke released a breath, his shoulder visibly relaxing, before he nodded once. She shut the door behind him as he let himself in.

 

As he helped himself to her fridge and as she changed her clothes, both of them falling back into the ease of old habits, she couldn’t shake the relieved smile on her face.

 

Sakura finally had her best friend back...

 

* * *

 

Despite Sasuke’s obvious concern, and general baseline horror, for Sakura being involved with his uncle, he had stayed true to his word and had stayed out of their relationship. A fact that Sakura had appreciated even if Naruto was less... eloquent about her budding relationship with Sasuke’s uncle.

 

The first time Naruto had called her Unclefucker, she had laid her fist in his face so hard that she had knocked him off his feet. Despite her first reaction, and despite her having laid a foot or fist into him every time thereafter, the mischievous blond had developed a fondness for the instantly infuriating term.

 

She just hadn’t hit him hard enough was the problem... At least Sasuke was smart enough (or traumatized enough) to never use the term to her face.

 

Sakura dropped the plastic ninja toy back into the bag of fast food and came back with a handful of fries. She ate the salty treats as she reached back into her car and grabbed her purse.

 

“Alright, I’m going to head in and see Dara.” When Sasuke made a disgusted noise in the back of his throat in response to her pet name for his uncle, Sakura cuffed him in the back of the head. “You hide in my car and pound down as many of those burgers as you can before someone comes looking for you and takes them, prospect.”

 

“You don’t have to tell me twice,” the Uchiha replied, immediately making himself at home in the driver’s seat of her Jeep. He dropped the bag of fast food in his lap as he adjusted the seat and leaned back comfortably.

 

“I swear, you’re nothing but legs,” she laughed as she watched him adjust her car seat from the front of the tracks to the very back.

 

“You’re just short… And thank you, Sakura,” he thanked sincerely, digging into the bag and fishing out one of the half dozen cheeseburgers she had bought for him.

 

“What are friends for?” Sakuraasked with a smile, reaching forward to affectionately brush his bangs out of his face.

 

He leaned into the touch briefly before taking a comically huge bite out of his first burger. She snorted out a laugh as she stepped back and closed the door to her Jeep.

 

Turning to face the doors leading into the Uchiha MC clubhouse, Sakura felt her trepidation from before return.

 

Steeling her nerves, she adjusted her purse on her shoulder and strode towards the double doors, politely nodding in greeting to the few patch holders and visitors enjoying cigarettes and joints at the picnic tables out front. They nodded or waved to her in return before resuming their conversations, obviously knowing who she was, a fact that she wasn’t sure how to feel about.

 

Sakura took a steeling breath before opening one of the double doors leading into the club house. Stepping inside, she took in her surroundings for the first time.

 

She noted a long wooden bar, manned by a sole Uchiha who looked somehow familiar. The messy haired man darted about, filling drinks and chatting with other patch holders with a friendly smile stretched across his face. She glanced up and nearly whistled at the numerous awards hanging above the bar. She knew that the club was involved in a great number of charities but the evidence of the extent of their contribution was astounding.

 

Her eyes continued farther, taking in the balcony overlooking the entire bottom floor and the two somehow dominating looking doors standing out at the top floor. Her gaze drifted back to the ground floor, scanning the room.

 

Sakura noted a handful of arcade games set along one wall, some of them being played by intoxicated patch holders. A pair of Uchihas played darts dangerously close to the gamers while a small group chatted over a game of pool.

 

Her eyes drifted across the numerous decorations, marveling at the hundreds of framed photographs of the Uchiha family, a variety of skulls, musical instruments, and vinyl records all hanging on the walls. Despite the decorations being so eclectic, they formed a kind of theme that suited the clubhouse well.

 

There were a number of tables all filled with bikers and guests alike. Some groups played cards, others drunkenly played board games. One table in particular periodically let loose the jarring sound of metal on wood as the occupants played the overly loud drinking game Quarters.

 

There were a few couches set up in front of a flat screen tv hanging on the wall, forming a makeshift den on the far side of the clubhouse. The couches were filled with patch holders although she couldn’t recognize any of them from this distance.

 

Sakura felt her nervousness return tenfold when she couldn’t find Madara among the crowds of strangers.

 

When she felt a set of strong arms wrap around her from behind, she nearly elbowed the owner in surprise. When she recognized the familiar cologne and the familiar arms wrapped around her, she breathed out a sigh of relief and leaned against their chest.

 

Sakura wrapped her arms around the arms encircling her as she tilted her head to face her attacker.

 

“Hello, my little hellcat,” Madara greeted with a smirk, holding her tightly as he peeked at her from over her shoulder.

 

“Hey Dara,” she hummed with a smile, puckering her lips in a silent request for a kiss.

 

His smirk softened into something warmer as he leaned down to give her a peck.

 

When Madara pulled back, still smiling, he asked, “Are you ready to meet everyone?”

 

“I have already met a few of you, you know,” she reminded, “But I’m happy I get to meet the rest of your family. It seems like a lot of them already know who I am though...”

 

“What can I say, you make one hell of a first impression,” he laughed as he guided her over towards the couches lined up in front of the flat screen tv hanging on the wall.

 

“I worry they’re not positive first impressions though...”

 

“I would say that they are. Everyone knows about how you defended Sasuke from those two Senju during the bar brawl and then knocked out that guy at the concert. That picture of us is up on the wall over there, by the way,” he gestured over towards one of the walls filled with decorations.

 

“Oh great, so everyone knows me as the crazy lady who knocks everyone out,” she groaned, dropping her head.

 

“More like the incredibly powerful woman who seduced the president,” Madara purred against her ear.

 

“I can be pretty seductive, can’t I?” Sakura laughed, perking up to lean against his side.

 

“You won me over before I was even able to say a single word to you. I’d say you are,” he teased in return with a smile.

 

When they approached the couches, Madara released her so she could squeeze between two of the three couches. Her eyes flicked up and she was surprised to see an MMA competition on the screen. Not nearly as surprised as she was to see her childhood friends Lee and Neji duking it out in the ring.

 

Sakura took in the people sitting in the makeshift den and was happy to recognize everyone there, even if she wasn’t familiar with two of the occupants

 

Itachi, Izumi, and Shisui were all sharing a couch and an oversized styrofoam container filled with rolled tacos. Itachi and Izumi were involved in their own private conversation while Shisui seemed more interested in the program on the television and nursing the flask he gripped in one hand.

 

The trio greeted Sakura with smiles and waves, all three of them familiar with her. She returned their greetings with a wave and a smile of her own.

 

Obito and Izuna were seated by themselves on the other two couches. Obito’s focus was entirely on the tournament, him only sparing Madara and Sakura a glance before he adjusted his feet propped up on the low table in front of him. At this angle, Sakura noticed that not only was Obito missing an arm but he had a prosthetic leg as well. She had no idea the extent of his injuries and the only thing that overpowered her curiosity was how impressed she was at how well he coped.

 

Izuna’s attention alternated between texting on his phone, the tournament on the tv, and a half full glass of amber liquor cradled in his free hand. He glanced up at the two but at least afforded them a halfhearted wave before returning to the fights on the television.

 

Madara sat down on the couch next to Izuna and Sakura made herself at home in the space between her lover and the arm of the couch.

 

“Hey Itachi, Izumi,” Sakura greeted with a smile before turning to face the eldest of the trio, “And Shisui, right?”

 

“Ah, she remembers!” Shisui drunkenly crowed with a wide grin, dropping his chin onto his palm as he gazed at Sakura with an overly warm expression.

 

Itachi turned away from Izumi to give Shisui a meaningful look, a glance which Sakura caught. She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion when she noticed Shisui’s carefree expression suddenly darken into a confrontational stare, his attention focused onto Madara.

 

“Of course I-eep!” Sakura began before Madara pulled her into his lap.

 

She immediately tensed in surprise at the overt and sudden display of affection. She blushed intensely and froze for a long moment before forcing herself to relax.

 

After all, if Madara was comfortable being openly affectionate with her than she should to. She was not ashamed of their relationship in the slightest and was happy to show her affection for him... Even if it was something that would take a minute to adjust to when it took place in front of all of the other Uchihas.

 

She frowned in confusion when her attention returned to Shisui and she watched as he took a harsh tug from his flask.

 

“Of course I… remember…” she finished weakly, a frown tugging at the corner of her lips when she realized that the messy haired Uchiha was ignoring her in favor of the television in front of them.

 

What the hell was that about?

 

Breaking the silent tension, Itachi greeted Sakura with a polite nod. “Good evening, Sakura. I hope your day went well.”

 

“And how’s med school going?” Izumi tacked on with a friendly smile, taking a bite of one of the rolled tacos from the trio’s shared meal.

 

“I, uh...” she started dumbly, still reeling from the bizarre exchange, before shaking her head and forcing her thoughts into coherence, “Thanks, it’s been pretty nice. And med school has been very challenging. But a good challenge, I think. I’m really enjoying getting to work in the setting I want.”

 

“I’m glad to hear it,” Izumi replied.

 

Before Sakura could continue with her small talk with Izumi, Madara interjected, “Sakura. Have you met these two?”

 

Sakura followed Madara’s gesturing and made eye contact with both Obito and Izuna.

 

“We haven’t been introduced,” she answered simply.

 

“Well, this sour bastard is Obito. He’s our sergeant at arms,” Madara introduced, gesturing towards the one armed man that Naruto had once referred to as the ‘attack dog’.

 

“Er, nice to meet you,” Sakura greeted awkwardly, giving him a smile.

 

Obito glared at Madara before nodding to her politely. “It’s nice to meet you as well, Sakura.”

 

When Obito’s attention returned to the MMA tournament in front of him, Sakura breathed an internal sigh of relief. She was grateful that she had passed the mysterious man’s test and hadn’t somehow earned his ire. From what Sasuke had told her, Obito was the man whose good side you wanted to stay on.

 

“And this is my baby brother, Izuna, the VP,” Madara continued, clapping his hand onto the shoulder of the man sitting next to him.

 

“Stop calling me that, asshole. At least call me your _younger_ brother if you’re so set on being so informative,” Izuna growled, leveling his older brother with an unimpressed glare.

 

“You’re so cute when you’re mad,” Madara teased in response, grinning.

 

“Sadist,” the VP hissed before turning to Sakura with a polite smile, “It’s very nice to finally meet you, Sakura. I don’t think I’ve ever seen my brother so… smitten.”

 

Izuna’s teasing about her and Madara’s relationship drew a blush to Sakura’s cheeks. “It’s nice to meet you to.”

 

“I am very smitten. Who wouldn’t be, with the thing she can do with her mou-” Madara started with a wolfish grin before Sakura slapped her hands over his mouth.

 

“Shush!” Sakura yelped, a bright red flush spreading across her cheeks.

 

Madara laughed against her hands, pulling her closer to his chest. Izuna leveled them with a disgusted glance before scooting closer to the edge of the couch and putting more distance between himself and the two lovers.

 

Sakura smiled warmly, gazing into her lover’s eyes as she released him. He looped his arms around her waist, holding her against him, before leaning up to press another kiss to her lips. She returned his affectionate gesture before leaning against his chest and returning her focus to the rest of those sitting around the flat screen.

 

She felt euphoric wrapped up in Madara’s arms. She felt as if there was absolutely nothing that could touch her and the anxiety she had felt earlier slowly melted away. She felt as if she were home and as if those surrounding her, friends and strangers alike, were welcome guests.

 

It was because of this slowly growing comfort with her surroundings that she was finally able to unwind. So much so that when Izuna wandered off to refill his glass of spirits and returned with a handle of rum and two new glasses, she happily accepted a cup.

 

Sakura had taken her drink with a thank you and a smile, taking a deep sip from the spiced liquor. As the warmth of the spirits seeped from her stomach to the rest of her body, she cuddled up to her favorite spot against Madara’s chest and finally allowed herself to be herself.

 

As they continued to drink, the handle of spiced rum slowly waning away, she spoke to those sitting at the makeshift den like old friends. She had conversations that she would remember for the rest of their life, even if they were fogged by the warm haze of alcohol.

 

Izumi and her had gotten into a spirited discussion about feminism and the lack of representation of women in music. Izumi was an accomplished musician herself and spent much of her free time honing her craft. Sakura, while unskilled in any musical art, was thrilled to share her opinions of one of her favorite female singers: the outspoken Tayuya from the band The Sound Four.

 

Sakura had been especially captivated by Izuna telling Sakura about memories from his and Madara’s childhood. Her lover had been quite the little anarchist as a child and the borderline embarrassing stories Izuna regaled Sakura with had the pink haired woman laughing in delight.

 

When Izuna had given out one of his brother’s closely guarded secrets, how he was so sensitive to people being behind him that he couldn’t even pee with an audience, Sakura had giggled so hard that she had snorted. Madara had elbowed his brother in the rib cage, nearly making the younger Uchiha spill his drink and putting an end to his teasing.

 

More than anything, however, Sakura would look back on her conversations with Obito with a sense of accomplishment and delight. She had finally breached his standoffish exterior and began a real conversation when she had commented about the fighters on screen. The one armed Uchiha had been impressed to discover that Sakura was friends with the famous MMA fighters Rock Lee, Neji Hyuga, and Tenten, but not nearly as impressed as he had been when she told him she was a black belt herself.

 

Sakura was even able to meet a great number of the other patch holders in the club, so many that she would never be able to remember all of their names. The other bikers, men and women alike, had been curious about their president’s old lady and had no qualms about coming over to greet her. The number of times she had turned down a cigarette, a joint, or another drink nearly outnumbered the quantity of compliments she had received (the majority of them being about her fighting style, her hair, or her ass, much to her drunken amusement).

 

As the night continued onward, and as the handle of rum slowly dissipated into nothing, Sakura allowed herself to fall into the warm embrace of intoxication as she cuddled up into the warm embrace of her affectionate and equally intoxicated lover.

 

* * *

 

Madara and Sakura had drank so much that neither had any hope of getting home that night.

 

There was no way Madara trusted himself to get on his bike and there was absolutely no chance he would trust himself with his old lady’s life on the road in his current state. Even less likely than that was him trusting her to get behind of the wheel of her stick shift Jeep.

 

Sakura fared no better, her drunken laughter loud and infectious, her tongue loose, and her speech candid.

 

Madara was amazed at how quickly she had won over Izuna and Obito, his lover having made friends with his brother and cousin nearly instantly. It was as if she had read their minds. After all, the quickest way to Izuna’s heart was alcohol and reminiscing about the past and the quickest way to Obito’s heart was fighting and being treated like he wasn’t an invalid.

 

Sakura had honed in on these facts so quickly and implemented them so effectively that she had befriended his brother and sergeant at arms faster than he could have ever expected.

 

Even more impressive, every patch holder who had met her that night had loved her. So much so that Madara knew that it was only a matter of time before all of his club mates began to hound him to have her around more often.

 

Well, with the exception of one...

 

More than that, however, the excessive alcohol Madara and his old lady had drank had brought out Sakura’s inner flirt and she was relentless.

 

Ever since she had drifted into an tipsy state, she had been driving him crazy with her affection. Her wandering hands had gotten incredibly bold in her intoxication, her fingertips often sneaking their way beneath his shirt even with an audience. As she remained perched in his lap, she had begun to discreetly grind down against his now constantly half hard length.

 

When she had sneakily cupped him through his pants when she thought no one was looking, however, Madara had decided two things: One, they were far too drunk to be in public and, two, he was going to fuck her into his mattress.

 

Thank the gods the clubhouse had spare rooms for all of the officers, and a bunk room for the regular members, who got too intoxicated to leave, who stuck around overnight for club business, or who had a bed partner to play with.

 

The lovers had just barely made it into the hallway leading to all of the spare rooms when Sakura attacked, fisting her hands in his shirt and dragging him down into a searing kiss.

 

Madara immediately pinned his lover against the wall behind her, trapping her with his arms as he pressed his knee between her thighs. She whimpered against his lips as he ground his thigh against her clothed sex, sending a thrill of anticipation down his spine.

 

He released her just so he could begin to walk her backwards towards his room. Their passionate kiss never broke, her hands already snaking beneath his shirt to run her hands and fingernails across his muscled chest and stomach.

 

It took little time to find the door to his sanctuary in the clubhouse but Madara had a brief struggle, one very reminiscent of his struggle to unlock the door to the warehouse all those months ago, where he had to fish out the key to his room and unlock the door.

 

A struggle that was made that much more difficult with his lover palming his already rock hard member through his jeans. He bucked into her hand as he nipped her bottom lip, drawing a soft moan from his lover.

 

When Madara finally got the door unlocked and threw it open, Sakura was already dragging him inside by his belt.

 

The Uchiha sloppily toed off his boots as he guided her towards his bed, her following his lead and flicking off her sandals as they went. When the backs of her knees hit the edge of the bed, their kiss was broken by her drunkenly and gracelessly falling back onto the mattress. He immediately dropped to his knees in between her thighs.

 

She pulled off her top, carelessly tossing it somewhere behind her and revealing the lacy black bra beneath. He grabbed the back of his shirt and tugged it off over his head, dropping it to the floor. As she unclasped her bra, he hastily unbuttoned and unzipped her jean shorts and ripped them, and her delicate matching panties, off of her hips.

 

Sakura sighed in pleasure, her head falling back against the sheets, as Madara pressed heated kisses to the soft skin of her belly. As his gentle kisses spanned from hip bone to hip bone, lingering on the tattoo of a cherry blossom on her hip, she tugged her bra all the way off. One arm stretching high above her head to deposit it onto the floor. One of his hands followed her stretch, his palm sliding up her side until he grasped her dainty breast.

 

Sakura gasped when he rolled her nipple between his gloved fingertips. She reached down to take his gloved hand in hers, tugging on the fingers of the piece of leather until the glove slipped off. Taking his now bare hand in her hands, she pressed his palm to his breast with a contented sigh. He hummed against her skin, squeezing her breast and and toying with her nipple, as her hands slid down his arm and down her side to reach him.

 

Sheaffectionately threaded her fingers into his ebony hair, brushing his bangs out of his face, as his broad hands cradled the dip of her waist and cupped her breast. When he suddenly bit the tender skin below her navel, she gasped and tugged at his locks.

 

Madara chuckled deeply against her skin, drawing a blush from her. He dragged his tongue across the love bite as he tugged off his other glove and let it drop to the floor.

 

Pulling away from her with a roguish grin, his hands slipped down from her waist to her hips. He guided her to flip over onto her stomach, an action Sakura eagerly followed, swaying her hips sensually. His length twitched in his pants as he caught a glimpse of how wet she already was.

 

Madara stood and hastily unbuttoned and unzipped his jeans, dropping them, pistol and all, to the floor and stepping out of them. He climbed onto the bed behind her, his knees sliding between hers and spreading her legs even wider.

 

He placed his hands on her toned rear cheeks, spreading her wide to accommodate his throbbing erection. He ground his rock hard member against her hot rear opening, his lover groaning and rubbing herself against him as if she was in heat.

 

“Ah! Daraaa. Please fuck me in the ass,” Sakura moaned into the mattress, grinding her rear against his length.

 

He tensed, his fingertips digging into her hips, as arousal washed over him. His cock twitched in it’s seat nestled between her cheeks.

 

Had he heard her right?

 

“Gods, hellcat, are you sure?” Madara groaned as he roughly ground against her, their combined efforts putting his dick in a pleasurable vice that sent a thrill through his blood.

 

“I’ve wanted you to since the warehouse. You drive me crazy when you rub my asshole, I want you to bury yourself in it. Please,” she confessed hotly, the alcohol they had drank earlier allowing her inner, filthy thoughts to readily spill from her lips.

 

Madara growled low in his throat just from her words, a drop of pre cum beading at his tip already. Gods, at this rate he could finish just from listening to her. He had never heard such filth fall from her lips before and couldn’t even come up with anything to say in the face of her erotic demand.

 

He popped his first two fingers into his mouth, getting them wet.

 

Instead of responding with words, he responded by pulling back and rubbing his soaking wet fingers against Sakura’s tight hole. She keened as she spread her legs farther for him.

 

The Uchiha pressed one slick finger into her entrance, pushing passed the tight ring of muscle and drawing a gasp from his lover. He groaned at the lurid sight of his finger dipping into her ass and her feminine passage glistening with her arousal.

 

Madara’s throbbing length twitched in pleasure at the sight of his lover’s fingers sneaking down to rub circles around her clit.

 

Pressing another finger into Sakura’s depths, he slowly and carefully stretched out her impossibly tight opening. She barely muffled her moans into the pillows, spreading her legs wide and presenting everything to him as she continued to draw frantic circles around her clit.

 

As the biker slowly fucked her rear entrance with his fingers, he used his free hand to pump his length. He shivered as the pleasure washed over him, barely holding back a moan of his own. Holding his member steady in his hand, he teased her already dripping wet opening with the head of his cock, only shallowly penetrating her.

 

“Ah! Please keep-! Mmm!” Sakura cried out as she desperately tried to press back against him, her hips shaking from her arousal.

 

He sunk his length all the way into his lover’s feminine passage, her plush channel squeezing him tightly. He thrust into her a few times, gathering her slickness onto his length. She gasped in pleasure, her fingers stuttering in their pace circling her clit.

 

The Uchiha removed his fingers from her ass to gather a bead of saliva onto his unused fingers, salving her rear opening with the lubricant. He dipped his fingers back into her once again, thrusting deeply into both of her passages.

 

When he removed his fingers and his member from her, leaving her empty, Sakura whimpered.

 

Madara took one moment to gaze down at his lover, at how wide she was spread for him and how unbelievably sexy she looked in that moment. His member was so hard that he could hardly take it, his gaze flicking up to his prize as the prospective pleasure became too much to resist.

 

He placed one of his broad hands on her rear cheek, spreading her wide for him as he used his free hand to position himself against her. He pressed the head of his slick member against her tight opening, challenging the feeling of resistance. He slowly buried his length in her ass, taking in a broken breath as the tight ring of muscle yielded to his slow thrust. He groaned low in his throat as the head of his member slipped passed the resistance and into her hot channel, his lover below him releasing a heated moan.

 

Madara continued until he was fully seated within her, taking in a desperate breath at the sensation of being buried in her. Her tight ring of muscle was snug around the base of his cock, tightly clenching around him as if to encourage him to keep moving.

 

Sakura’s breathy gasps of pleasure spurred him on, him pulling nearly all the way out before burying himself in her to his hilt again.

 

He repeated this gentle thrust three more times before she cried out, “Stop teasing and fuck me!”

 

Madara growled low in his throat, arousal shooting through him at her demand. “Gods, anything you want.”

 

The ebony haired man snaked one arm across her breasts and pulled her back flush against his chest. As his arm kept her steady against his chest, and as her arms came up to wrap around the back of his neck for something to hang onto, he dropped his free hand down to draw rapid circles around her clit.

 

Unable to resist her passionate demand any longer, he started fucking her in earnest, burying his length into her rear channel as deeply as he could.

 

Sakura’s fevered moans, unhindered by the pillows, were like music to his ears. He held back, not wanting to hurt his lover, even though his rough treatment was drawing out the loudest moans he had ever heard from her. His fingers continued to rub rapid circles around her clit as her hands barely clung to his neck.

 

When Sakura came after just a few handfuls of thrusts, surprising Madara with it’s quickness, her entire body shook with the force of her orgasm. Her passage clenched around his member but her tight ring of muscle squeezed the base of his cock so tightly he was shocked he could still move inside of her.

 

Madara slipped his fingers into her sopping feminine passage, groaning in pleasure as he felt how soaking wet she was. The feeling of both of her holes quivering around his fingers and his cock in sync, and being able to feel his member filling her rear passage through the thin barrier between her channels with his fingers, sent a rush of pleasure through him.

  
"A-ah! Daraaa! Harder! Please,” Sakura begged brokenly as she grasped at the back of his neck and arched into him.

 

The Uchiha hissed in pleasure as she continued to cum around him, her ring of muscle frantically fluttering around his member as his unwavering thrusts continued. He slipped his fingers out of her feminine passage, rubbing her clit roughly a few times and wrenching a cry of ecstasy from his lover.

 

His hands migrated to her hips and the space between her shoulder blades, her arms unwinding from his neck. When he pressed against her back and pushed her down against the mattress, she eagerly followed the movement.

 

“Touch yourself,” Madara commanded, his fingertips digging into her soft skin as he forced himself to hold back.

 

Sakura groaned indistinctly in response, one hand slipping between her legs to play with herself as the other supported her. The Uchiha’s hand drifted down to spread her cheeks, his greedy eyes taking in the sight of his member buried in her rear opening. He moaned, ingraining the sight into his mind before he roughly grasped her hips and set a truly hard pace.

 

This time, Madara gave her his all, the tip of his unrelenting cock reaching his lover’s deepest place as he buried himself in her as roughly as he could. His pace was unwavering even in the face of her wild, blissful moans.

 

He thought he could recognize his name and the word yes in Sakura’s cries of ecstasy.

 

She bucked back against him, meeting his thrusts with her own and increasing the force of their coupling. He released her hips so he could drop his hands on either side of her head, leaning over her so he could thrust into her deeper.

 

He nearly thanked the gods when Sakura came again, his lover sobbing in pleasure against his rumpled bedspread. He only hung on for a handful more thrusts before his pace stuttered and he buried himself as deep as he could in her hot, fluttering channel.

 

Madara released a broken breath as the pleasure rocketed through him. His hips twitched against her as he filled her ass with his seed, her tight ring of muscle continuing to squeeze the base of his pulsing member and milking him for all he was worth.

 

He continued to pant in pleasure as he emptied himself as deeply as he could in her in spurts, shocked by just how much of his cum he was filling her with. She continued to spasm around him as she drew out her own orgasm as far as she could, her fingers slowing but not stopping in their pace circling her clit.

 

Madara wasn’t sure he had ever cum so much or so hard in his life.

 

When he finally finished emptying himself in her, he sat up to gaze down at their joining. He nearly thought that he could go again but the exhaustion from their intense love making, and the fact he was still very much drunk, set in so quickly he knew it was out of the question. Even if the last vestiges of Sakura’s drawn out orgasm, and the twitches of her passage that came with it, still brought him pleasure.

 

Watching the site of their joining, Madara slowly removed himself from his lover’s ass. He groaned as he slipped out of her and as her tight ring of muscle tightened almost painfully around his softening member, forcing him out of her.

 

Sakura whimpered as he pulled out, her thighs trembling under the force of the pleasure they shared. She finally pulled her hand away from her pleasure point as she dropped down onto the bed, trying to catch her breath.

 

He collapsed next to her in an exhausted heap, immediately pulling his boneless lover into his arms. She draped herself over him with a breathless huff, tucking her head beneath his chin as she cuddled up to his chest.

 

“Gods, you’re incredible…” the Uchiha panted, wrapping his arms around her.

 

“That was the best sex of my life,” Sakura groaned, still drunk as well, before pressing a lazy kiss to his throat.

 

“Agreed,” he sighed in satisfaction as he tilted his head so his cheek rested atop her head.

 

Sakura hummed in satiety as she slid her hand up his muscled chest. Her fingertips brushed along the outlines of the tattoos on his ribs and chest curiously. She traced the head of the grizzly bear inked across his rib cage before drifting to the wolf on the opposite side. She made sure to drag her fingernails across the outline of the defined muscles of his abdomen, drawing a shiver and a euphoric sigh from the ebony haired man.

 

Madara basked in her affections, eyes closed and head sunken into the pillow, in absolute bliss. As she explored, he ran his fingers through her hair, gently finger combing any tangles he found.

 

Sakura finally settled on her favorite tattoo, the hawk inked across his pectoral, as she settled against his chest. She sighed contentedly, lazily tracing the outline of the swooping bird of prey.

 

The Uchiha used his free hand to tilt up her chin. She followed the motion until they were gazing into each others' eyes. She smiled sweetly, drawing a warm smile from him.

 

“Hi,” she whispered, the hand that was once tracing his tattoos flattening across his pectoral and sliding up his chest to cling to his shoulder.

 

“Hi…” he hummed in response, tilting his head down so he could press a kiss to her lips.

 

His lover giggled against his lips, breaking their kiss and drawing a chuckle from him. She pressed her lips to his again. This time Madara broke the kiss because he couldn’t stop smiling. Despite how hard they tried, pressing kisses to each others lips over and over, neither could contain their smiles and laughter enough to kiss the other properly.

 

The affection he could feel coming from his lover warmed him down to his bones. He couldn’t recall a time he had ever felt so happy...

 

Madara rolled over onto his side, Sakura sliding off of him and resting her head on the pillow next to him. Her leg remained hooked around his thighs but her hand drifted down his chest to draw nonsensical patterns on his skin.

 

His free hand settled on her hip, his thumb sweeping along the soft skin there, as he dropped his forehead against hers to gaze into her eyes. He couldn’t shake the smile from his face, far too overwhelmed by the euphoria of being wrapped up in her embrace.

 

The Uchiha felt blissful and intoxicated. Intoxicated from the alcohol still blurring the outer edges of his vision, intoxicated from the absolute best sex of his life, intoxicated from her sweet affections, intoxicated from his absolute love for her...

 

Madara paused. His drunken mind spun, grasping for balance as all of his thoughts coalesced into one single, breath-taking revelation:

 

He was in love with Sakura.

 

The realization came to Madara like it was the simplest thing on the planet. It was suddenly the clearest, most obvious thing in existence. Why he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about her, why she brought that warm feeling to his chest every time he saw her, why she was able to make him forget about the life he lead when he was with her, how she was able to chase away the darkness that seemed to follow him wherever he went, why he felt alone when he wasn’t with her… It all made so much sense.

 

He was in love with her.

 

Madara’s smile disappeared from his face, instead replaced with a look of shock and amazement. His lover’s own smile dropped, instead concern flooding her features.

 

“Are you okay?” Sakura asked seriously, her fingertips skimming across his collarbone.

 

Madara huffed out a laugh, his warm smile returning in full force.

 

Gods, he was better than okay. He finally understood. He finally knew what the feeling that he been growing in his chest had been. He finally knew what he needed to do.

 

His hand drifted up to cradle Sakura’s cheek. His thumb swept along the arch of her cheekbone as he marveled at her. Concern still lingered in her expression as she waited for his answer.

 

“I love you,” Madara confessed, gazing into her eyes.

 

Sakura’s mouth popped open and her eyes widened in surprise. She was silent for a long moment, to the point where nervousness began to mount in Madara’s chest.

 

Was it too soon? He had never been in love like he loved her... In that moment he had felt like it was the most natural, the most right thing to say. But now, with her emerald eyes staring into his, her kiss swollen lips still parted in surprise, and with the silence between them growing, he worried he had frightened her...

 

At least until Sakura’s lips slowly widened into a blissful smile, her eyes reflecting the joy in her heart. She surged forward, pressing a deep, passionate kiss to his lips. She rolled over on top of him, her arms wrapping around his neck, as they shared kiss after blissful kiss.

 

Madara’s head spun from the passion behind her kisses and he had to grab onto her hips to find his balance.

 

When she finally sat up on her elbows above him, her messy pink hair hanging wildly around her face as she gazed down at him with an overjoyed smile, he was dazed.

 

“I love you,” Sakura purred sweetly in response, pressing another affectionate kiss to his lips which he returned euphorically.

 

Their lips moved against each others', unhurried, her body draped across his so sweetly. He felt like his heart could come out of his chest to be united with the woman he loved.

 

Gods, he was in _love_.

 

Madara never thought he would one day find himself in love. He never thought he would have deserved such a thing after all the crimes, all the atrocities, he had committed. A man like him -a man whose hands were steeped in blood, a man who fought in a secret war that had been waged since long before he had been born, a man who had committed acts so savage that nightmares still plagued him- had no right to be loved by a woman like Sakura.

 

Madara had always thought he would join his parents and his brothers in the afterlife before he was blessed with the love of a goddess of a woman like Sakura. He had always assumed he would die at the hands of a Senju, alone, unwed, and unloved outside of his family. He had only had it in him to pray that his death would mean that one of those he loved got to keep living. That his death as a pawn in this endless, pointless war would mean _something_.

 

What had he done to earn this joy, this euphoria, this love? What gods had he pleased with his abominations?

 

He should turn her away. He should let her go. Let her find love with someone who actually deserved her. Let her live a happy life with someone whose love wouldn’t put her in danger. Let her love someone who didn’t walk the line between life and death every day, someone who could give her what she deserved...

 

But, gods, after a lifetime of giving every drop of blood, every bead of sweat, and every tear from his body to the club, after sacrificing everything of himself to protect those he loved with all of his heart… Madara wanted to be just a little selfish for once.

 

He wanted to trick himself into believing he could earn her love. Even if just for a little bit.

 

When they finally separated, both breathless but rapturous, Madara pulled her against his chest. Sakura curled up against him sweetly, her arms clinging to his shoulders as she draped himself across his chest. He dropped his chin against the crown of her head as their legs tangled and as he wrapped himself around her. Neither could stop smiling as they clung to one another.

 

Madara had no idea what he had done to earn Sakura’s love but knew in that moment that he would do anything to keep it.

 

He was hers...

 

“Sweet hellcat...” he whispered into her hair as she nuzzled his throat.

 

The lovers drifted off to sleep naked and uncovered, on top of the blankets and with the lights still on. Neither could find it in them to care when they were so comfortably wrapped up in the arms of the one they loved.

 

* * *

 

Sasuke downed yet another shot of whiskey, sloppily setting the glass onto the top of the bar with a sharp click. He was barely able to set the glass down correctly, the shot glass making a grating noise as it spun on it’s base and righted itself haphazardly.

 

He didn’t shake his head to ward of the taste of the alcohol as he normally would, too far into his drinking for the taste of the spirits to even phase him. As he pushed the glass towards the opposite edge of the bar, he waved to Kagami, non-verbally expressing that he wanted another drink.

 

The young prospect dropped his head into his palm, staring down into the bar with an expression more befitting a man who had witnessed some great tragedy.

 

Something that Sasuke may have very well seen…

 

The young Uchiha had witnessed a great many terrible things since joining the MC. He had seen people getting beaten, stabbed, shot, tortured, buried alive. He had witnessed executions, people getting a bullet put into their head, people pushed off their bikes on the freeway, people getting hot dosed. He had even taken a life for the sake of protecting his family, something that would haunt him until the day he died...

 

But he didn’t think that anything would ever be as horrifying, that anything would ever be as emotionally and mentally scarring, as watching one of his childhood best friends getting fucked in the ass by his uncle.

 

Sasuke shivered in horror, bile rising to his throat.

 

He hoped to the gods that neither Madara or Sakura had noticed him closing the door to his uncle’s room as they had been so caught up in the throes of passion. More than anything, however, Sasuke hoped that if he got drunk enough now that he would black out and forget any of that had ever happened.

 

Kagami, the merciful and understanding man he was, didn’t return to Sasuke with another shot of alcohol. Instead, he returned with a mason jar full of the club’s specially distilled whiskey and an actual glass and dropped his gifts onto the table in front of the younger Uchiha. The elder gave the young patch holder a sympathetic look before grabbing Sasuke’s finished shot glass and going to tend to the other Uchihas at the bar.

 

“Thank you…” Sasuke mumbled as he twisted off the top to the jar and dumped the contents into the fresh glass in front of him, very nearly missing entirely.

 

He took a deep breath before downing half the glass in three long gulps, the taste overwhelming him this time as a shiver slunk down his spine. He let loose a harsh breath as his mouth burned from the high proof alcohol. He scrunched his eyelids as he swallowed back the taste, shaking his head once before forcing down another deep sip.

 

As Sasuke attempted to drown himself in alcohol enough to forget the horrors he had witnessed, Itachi consoled a distraught Shisui on the opposite side of the bar.

 

The younger of the two Uchiha spoke to Shisui in a low voice, his messy haired cousin miserably folded over the bar. The elder took a measured sip from the glass in his hands before sighing dejectedly.

 

“Well, why didn’t you ever ask her on a date if you felt that way?” Itachi questioned simply, resting one elbow onto the bar and leaning in to maintain a private conversation with his cousin.

 

“I thought I was too old for her! But apparently age doesn’t matter to her if she’s the P’s old lady now…” Shisui whined, his shoulders slumping as he swirled the glass of liquor in his hand, “He’s like six years older than me…”

 

“Eight years. Closer to nine, actually,” Itachi, perhaps unhelpfully, supplied.

 

“Shit, he’s sixteen years older than her?” Shisui asked, shooting Itachi a surprised look, before he sunk back into his seat, “I thought eight was pushing when I thought about asking her out…”

 

Itachi quirked an eyebrow at his cousin and lifelong best friend. “Perhaps you shouldn’t have made a judgment about her before getting to know her first?”

 

“Yeah, yeah, it’s all my fault I’m miserable. You don’t have to keep pointing it out…” the messy haired Uchiha grumbled before taking another drag from his glass, finishing off the contents.

 

He stared into the empty cup with a forlorn look, halfheartedly twirling the glass in his fingers. During the long pause between the two best friends, Shisui waved to Kagami, silently asking for a refill of his drink.

 

“There will be other women, Shisui,” Itachi tried, sensing the upset in his cousin’s expression, as Kagami made his way over to refill Shisui’s glass.

 

The bar tending Uchiha glanced between his two cousins, an expression of concern on his face as he carefully refilled Shisui’s glass. Instead of commenting on the obvious tension, much the same as how he had left Sasuke alone, the messy haired Uchiha turned away to give them their privacy.

 

Shisui took a long sip of his drink, grimacing and swallowing back the bitter taste, before he admitted, “Sure... but no one like her…”

 

Itachi patted his cousin in the back in a soothing manner, trying to console his heart broken friend, before deftly snatching the half full glass from his hands.

 

“Hey!” Shisui yelled, drunkenly glaring at Itachi as he easily skirted outside of his friend’s reach.

 

“You’re drunk, Shisui. Go sleep it off or you’ll do something stupid,” Itachi explained simply as he dumped the contents of the glass into a nearby potted plant.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A “hot dose” is a fatal mixture of heroin and other substances (meth, cocaine, battery acid, etc) that is given to a victim in the form of a syringe. It can be forced onto a person or given to a unsuspecting addict so they can kill themselves.


	9. Tattoos

Sakura moaned around the thickness filling her mouth to the brim, a thrill of pleasure shooting down her spine at the responding groan from Madara.

 

The flesh of her knees burned from the rough carpet beneath her but her attention was far from the inconsequential pain. Instead, her attention was focused on sating her pleasure-mad lover sitting on the edge of her bed above her and the ache growing between her own legs.

 

Her hands clung to his muscled thighs as she drew his straining member deep into her mouth. Her eyes watered as she forced herself to overcome her damnable gag reflex, drawing her lover’s cock deep into her throat over and over.

 

His thick member forced Sakura's mouth wide open, her lips stretching around his length. Her tongue swept along the underside of his length as she sucked him off, giving him that much more pleasure that the deepness of her throat couldn’t provide.

 

Madara's member felt overwhelmingly huge, sinking into her mouth and penetrating her throat. Despite being in complete control of the wild man above her, she felt incredibly submissive with his thickness pressed so far behind her lips.

 

Sakura rubbed her thighs together, intensely aroused by the feeling of his cock dominating her mouth and desperate to sate the growing need at her core.

 

Pulling back, she took in a deep breath of air through her nose. Even as she caught her breath, she refused to let up, her lips tight around her lover’s member as she bobbed her head up and down his length.

 

The bitter taste of Madara's pre cum stained the back of her tongue, stoking the fire of her arousal that much further. Keeping a seal around the swollen head of his rock hard member with her lips, she lapped at the tip of his length, greedily gathering up the precursor to her lover’s finish.

 

When one of her hands sunk down between his legs to palm his sac, his grip on her hair tightened.

 

“Fuck, Sakura…” Madara growled as her tongue gathering the bead of precum at his tip.

 

Sakura knew he was close. His hand was tightly tangled in her hair, holding her mouth close to his member. His other hand shot out behind him, holding himself upright as he sat up on the edge of her bed. His groans of pleasure had degraded into blissful gasps and growls that had heat pooling between her legs.

 

Her lover was so incredibly sexy, lost to the throes of pleasure. The feeling of a man such as him, an incredibly powerful man such as himself, submissive to the pleasure she bestowed upon him was an incredible high.

 

A high that would only get better when Sakura finally tasted Madara's cum again and got to feel his thick cock filling her needy passage.

 

Unable to resist the inevitable bliss, despite how much she loved to bring her lover pleasure with her talented mouth, she stopped her teasing.

 

Taking a deep breath, Sakura relaxed her throat and slowly brought his thickness all the way into her mouth. Her eyes watered when the tip of his straining member sunk far passed her lips. She continued until her nose brushed against his coarse curls, him released a groan deep in his chest.

 

As she pulled back and drew the Uchiha's impossibly large feeling length into her wide open mouth once again, his thickness parting her lips and dominating her throat, his grip in her hair tightened. As Sakura took his length deep into her mouth, her tongue sweeping along the underside of his member and sliding across the swollen vein there, she could feel as his finish approached.

 

Madara's rock hard length penetrating her throat grew impossibly harder, signaling his imminent finish. His hand combed through his hair to gently cup the back of her head, his silent warning to her. Her fingers gripped his thighs as she continued to fuck him with her mouth, drawing him as deeply into her welcoming opening as she could.

 

When his fingers tightened in her hair and when he sucked in a ragged breath, she drew his length all the way into her mouth, the head of his straining member slipping deep into her throat. When she felt her lover’s cock flex as he dumped his cum down her throat, she could feel more heat pooling between her thighs as her clit throbbed needily.

 

Sakura swallowed around Madara's unyielding member filling her mouth and throat to the brim, swallowing each burst of hot ejaculate. She wasn’t sure if it was the pleasure getting to her, but she swore she could feel the warmth from his seed as it sunk down to her stomach.

 

He released the grip he had had on the back of her head, allowing her to pull away and catch her breath. As she sucked in desperate breaths through her nose, she continued to gently suck off her lover. The bitter taste of his cum lingered at the back of her throat and teased the tip of her tongue as she lapped up the remainder of his semen from the tip of his member.

 

Madara hissed from too much pleasure as she sucked on the head of his length. She smiled around his slowly softening member, looking up to catch the gaze of her lover.

 

He looked dazed from the pleasure she had just given him, his eyes half lidded as he panted to catch his breath. Something about his eyes always sent a thrill of pleasure straight to her clit, the power in his untamed gaze exciting her.

 

Not breaking the intimate eyes contact, Sakura continued to meticulously clean her lover’s slowly softening length with her mouth and tongue. Holding the base of his member in her hand, she dragged her tongue along the underside of his cock, from his sac all the way to the tip of his length.

 

She affectionately licked and kissed the sides of his thickness, her free hand sliding down between his thighs to roll his sac between her fingers. She continued this attentive treatment, pressing kisses and dragging her tongue across the sensitive skin.

 

It was only when she felt his length begin to harden in her hand once again that she finally paid attention to the most sensitive part of him.

 

Sakura pressed a kiss to the tip of Madara’s cock, gazing up at him lovingly, before parting her lips and beginning to draw his tip into her mouth. Her eyes slowly slid shut, finally breaking the intimate eye contact, as she sunk her mouth around his member.

 

The Uchiha groaned deep in his throat as she slowly began to suck him off once again, coaxing his length back into hardness so she could feel it sink into her eager channel.

 

Pulling back, she dragged her tongue across the underside of his member and flicked it across the head of his length one last time.

 

Sakura met his gaze once again with a sultry smirk as she stood from her place on her knees and in between his thighs. He met her smirk with a pleasure mad smile, scooting backward onto her bed to give her space to straddle him.

 

Sakura crawled into her wild haired lover’s lap, planting one knee on either side of his hips. Knowing that she was easily wet enough to take his length, she positioned the head of his member against her folds and sunk down.

 

Sakura gasped as she felt every solid inch of Madara's cock slowly press into her, parting her folds and filling her completely. She moaned when he was fully seated within her, the bliss from feeling his member stretching her walls so perfectly overwhelming her.

 

Their bodies fit together so flawlessly and his length fit inside of her passage so perfectly that she wondered if they had been made for each other.

 

The Uchiha dropped his forehead against her neck, taking a ragged breath as his broad hands gripped her thighs.

 

“Gods, hellcat, sucking me off turns you on that much?” Madara groaned against her throat.

 

“Mmm, you have no idea,” Sakura moaned in return, her arms looping around his neck to give her something to hang on to.

 

“What did I do to deserve you…” he muttered against her neck before nipping the tender skin of her throat.

 

She gasped in pleasure before rising in her seat on his cock. She groaned at the blissful sensation of his hardness moving within her tight passage. When she sunk back down, the head of his member reaching deep within her, she ground her clit against his pelvis.

 

Finally feeling his member penetrating deep within her and beginning to sate the desperate need that had been building between her thighs felt like bliss. Tightening her grip around his neck, Sakura used him as a lever to set a quick pace.

 

Madara groaned as she began to ride him in earnest, bouncing in his lap and using his pelvis to pleasure her clit. She gasped as her orgasm rapidly built within her, overcome by the feeling of finally being spread open after being so turned on by his thickness filling her throat. His broad hands gripped her hips tightly, his dominating grip sending a zing of ecstasy through her.

 

The sound of skin on skin, the feeling of his throbbing member filling her so completely, the taste of him still lingering on her tongue, and his woodsy, masculine scent fogging her senses made for a deadly combination.

 

She dragged her fingernails up her lover’s broad back as she rode him that much faster, her orgasm quickly building. When he sunk his teeth into her neck and then sucked at his love bite, it was exactly what she needed to throw her over the edge.

 

Sakura came was a gasp and a broken moan, her pace stuttering as the pleasure rolled over her in waves. Her walls rhythmically clenched around the unyielding member still deep in her sopping channel, his length feeling as if it filled her that much more with her passage tightening around him.

 

Sakura continued to bounce on Madara's cock, pressing her throbbing clit against his hips with each downward thrust. Her moans degenerated into blissful gasps of pleasure as the feeling of ecstasy overcame her.

 

The Uchiha’s grip on her hips tightened as he dragged her down against him and pressed himself as far into her soaking passage as he could. He came with a low growl against her throat, his hips rolling against hers and continuing to press against her clit. She groaned, her thighs spreading wide as she sunk down against him, desperate to feel his flexing cock even deeper inside of her.

 

Madara nipped her neck as he came in bursts, filling Sakura’s quivering channel with the product of his passion. Her fingers threaded into his wild mane, holding his mouth close to her throat as he dumped his cum within her welcoming passage, giving her exactly what she needed.

 

The lovers slowly came down from their high, slowly releasing the desperate hold they had had on one another. He fell back against the bed with a sated sigh, her falling with him and landing against his chest. Reaching over into her nightstand, he blindly fished out a rag as she grabbed her panties from where they had been abandoned on the bed earlier.

 

She rolled off of her lover, tugging on her underwear and using the rag to catch the products of their affections.

 

Humming in satisfaction, Sakura returned to Madara. Throwing one leg over his hips, she straddled his waist and settled against his pelvis. His broad hands slid up her powerful thighs to cradle her wide hips.

 

“Gods, that was amazing…” she hummed, running her palms up Madara’s chest and drawing a sigh of contentment from him.

 

“You’re amazing, my love,” he replied with a gratified smile, his calloused thumbs absentmindedly stroking the soft skin of her hips.

 

She smiled warmly, her fingertips brushing across the defined muscles of his abdomen and chest. Her gaze focused on the tattoos and scars decorating Madara’s body, her hands beginning an affectionate exploration.

 

“I seem to remember saying you would tell me the meaning behind your tattoos one day,” Sakura stated as she traced the outline of her favorite tattoo, the hawk inked across his pectorals which swooped down from his collar bones towards the midline of his chest.

 

Her lover purred in satisfaction beneath her, his eyes sliding shut and a smile lingering on his lips as he basked in her affections.

 

“Ask away,” he hummed blissfully, his hands cradling her hips.

 

“Why did you get this one?” Sakura asked, her voice soft.

 

“Most of my tattoos are memorials. I got the hawk when I was elected president. It's a tribute to all those I lost before I was elected and a reminder to stay vigilant. To keep my family safe,” he answered simply, drawing a smile from Sakura.

 

“That's incredibly noble of you... You really care so much about your family,” she praised, tracing the feathers of her favored tattoo.

 

He smiled. “They are all very precious to me.”

 

“What about... this one?” she continued, her finger sliding across his chest to settle on the half sleeve of a bull which sprawled across his right arm,

 

“I got the bull when my father, his name was Tajima, died,” he answered simply, his eyes slipping open so he could look up at her.

 

Sakura’s face dropped, shocked to hear the meaning behind his tattoos. She frowned deeply in sympathy as she dropped her elbows onto either side of his head and leaned over him.

 

“I’m sorry, Dara…” she whispered before pressing a sweet kiss to his lips.

 

Madara smiled warmly in response, his hands sliding up her thighs to cradle her waist. “It’s alright, my sweet hellcat.”

 

She laid on top of him, nuzzling his throat affectionately as her arms slid underneath his neck to hold him. He pressed a peck to her forehead as his hands slid up and down her sides.

 

“How did it happen?” Sakura asked curiously after a moment.

 

When the Uchiha tensed in response, his hands coming to a stop against her sides, she realized how offensive her question had been. She popped up, leveling her boyfriend with an apologetic look.

 

“I-I’m so sorry, that was so rude. I shouldn’t have asked,” she apologized immediately, frowning.

 

Madara opened his mouth to speak but closed it and shook his head, a bittersweet smile spreading across his lips.

 

“It’s okay. It’s been a very long time. But they all died the same way. My father, my mom, my three youngest brothers Shisa, Kuma, and Oshika… they were all killed by Senju.”

 

Sakura’s expression betrayed her sympathetic sorrow. She didn’t have any siblings, aside from her chosen brothers Naruto and Sasuke. She couldn’t even fathom losing her parents and her boys and could only imagine the heartbreak Madara must have felt with his loss. Even more so, the rage he must have felt at nearly all of his brothers and his parents being murdered by the opposing motorcycle club in their secret war...

 

“I’m so sorry…” she whimpered as she settled back against him, wrapping her arms around him tightly as if she could take away some of his pain.

 

Madara’s arms looped around her middle, holding her against him. “I miss them still, I always will... but it’s okay.”

 

Sakura sat back up, settling against his hips. She refused to meet his eyes, instead toying with a lock of his wild hair which formed a dark halo around him.

 

“I feel bad asking now…” she muttered, wrapping the lock of his ebony hair around her finger nervously.

 

The Uchiha hummed in response, his hands sliding down to settle on her hips, as a smile tugged at the corner of his lips. “Keep going, love. Your touch feels nice.”

 

Sakura finally met his gaze once again with an amused smirk before poking him in the stomach. He tensed for a heartbeat before chuckling and settling back against their bed to bask in her affection.

 

“Hmm, hmm, hmm…” she sung under her breath as she dragged a finger down his chest, her lover’s eyes sliding shut.

 

Her exploration drifted from the bull on his right arm to the elk's inked onto the apex of his rib cage, dominating what parts of his chest weren't touched by the hawk. Her eyes took in the black and gray horned creature, one curious hand soon reaching up to run across the tattooed flesh.

 

“The elk is for my youngest brother, Oshika. He had a passion for camping, a real outdoors man. He would ride out into the forests and camp out for days, just living on the land... He was also the tannest Uchiha you’ve ever seen,” Madara explained before chuckling and shaking his head, “It was kind of creepy, actually…”

 

“I can’t imagine a tan Uchiha…” she laughed, her fingers tracing the horns of the creature, “Or a blond Uchiha for that matter...”

 

“Uchiha traits are pretty dominate. Dark hair, dark eyes, light skin...” he confirmed, his eyes closed and his head tilted back against the pillows. A smile was spread across his lips, his hands cradling her hips and his thumbs brushing across her lower belly.

 

“Our kids would probably be dark haired with dark eyes to. A shame with your beautiful hair and eyes...” Madara commented as if it was the simplest thing in the world.

 

Sakura’s exploration ground to a halt, her heart skipping in her chest only to pick up double time. Her wide eyes shot up to her lover’s face. She took in his contented expression, a gentle smile spread across his lips and his eyes closed, his expression betraying that he had no idea what he had just said to her. Or, more accurately, how it had affected her.

 

She noticed how his thumbs were drifting across her lower belly and fantasies of her carrying his child suddenly bombarded her mind. Thoughts of him cradling her swollen belly as she straddled his hips in much the same way she was now. Visions of him pressing his ear to her large belly, whispering to their child within. Images of them curled up in bed together, a newborn baby with ebony hair and obsidian eyes cradled between them.

 

Her heart racing in her chest, she quickly stomped down her sudden thrill with the sense of shame and ridiculousness that accompanied her excitement.

 

Madara had just been stating facts, not being serious. They had only been together for a few months. They had only just recently confessed their love for each other.

 

To think of children, of all the things in the world, was absolutely insane. And not just because of the early stages of their relationship but of the lives they both lead. She was in medical school and had focused her entire life on pursuing her dream of becoming a doctor. He was an outlaw in an MC that had been at war since long before either of them were born.

 

Their relationship never should have started in the first place, never should have worked out in the first place, but they made it work. A baby on the other hand… That was impossible. Not just impossible but stupid. Insane. Asinine. Absolutely ridiculous…

 

Sakura refused to give her brief fantasies any more thought, shoving them to the back of her mind and continuing her exploration before Madara could notice her pause in her affections.

 

Her hand slipped across his skin, sliding across the hardened muscles of his abdomen and chest and passing over the tattoo of the hawk on his pectorals, before settling on a half sleeve of a tiger which dominated his entire left arm.

 

The stunning design of a roaring tigress dominated most of his bicep, spanned all the way to his collarbone, and even reached out over his shoulder. Sakura was impressed at how, despite the tattoo being in black and gray, she could nearly see the colors of the tigress.

 

Madara’s eyes slid open once again to gaze up at Sakura as she explored.

 

“My mother, Tora…” Madara started before clearing his throat, “She was a vicious woman yet loved fiercely. She had to be tough with six rowdy sons… My father was an incredibly impassive man and only she could find his soft side. She stole his heart in much the same way you stole mine: during a bar brawl.”

 

Sakura laughed aloud at that. “I guess you Uchiha men really have a type, huh?”

 

“What can I say, we like powerful women,” he chuckled, smiling widely up at his old lady.

 

“Your mom must have been incredible,” she hummed, her hand sliding across the detailed portrait of a tiger spanning across his arm.

 

“She was. She became the vice president of the club when my father was elected president…” he paused for a long moment before he muttered, “You two would have gotten along wonderfully…”

 

“She sounds like an indomitable woman.”

 

“If by indomitable you mean didn’t put up with any of our shit, including my father, then yes,” he joked.

 

Sakura smiled broadly, happy to hear that his mother was such a powerful woman. She wished that she had gotten the opportunity to meet his family members who had passed away. Or rather, since she very likely would have been in her teens when they were still alive, that they were still alive today.

 

She ran her fingertips across the skin of Madara’s right arm, sliding across his muscled bicep and exploring the precise lines of his tattoo. She noticed how her lover seemed to tense when her fingertips dipped down from the tiger and to numerous thin bands inked around his bicep and spanning down to his forearm, a design that was mirrored on both of his arms.

 

What caught her attention more was when the pad of her thumb caught the feeling of depressed skin.

 

Ignoring Madara’s previous reaction to her exploring the thin bands inked around his arms, Sakura moved his limb to gaze at a circular scar on his upper arm. Her fingertips grazed across a similar scar on the opposite side of his bicep.

 

Very familiar with the kind of wound it took to get these scars, Sakura’s mouth popped open. No words came out for a long moment as her heart sunk in her chest.

 

“How, um…” she started as her thumb gently ran across the depressed scar on his bicep that was nearly hidden by the tattoo of the tigress, “How did you get these scars?”

 

“I was shot,” Madara answered simply, frowning as he gazed up at his concerned lover.

 

Her gaze flicked back to his as he confirmed her fears. “You were… you got shot?”

 

“I did,” he replied simply before the edge of his lip quirked up, “Long story short: I lived.”

 

Sakura snorted in response, shaking her head. “And here I was thinking you were dead…”

 

“I didn’t know you were into that sort of thing, Dr. Haruno. Kinky…” he purred, playfully thrusting up against her and drawing a giggle from his lover.

 

“Oh, shush you…” she laughed, smiling down at the wild haired Uchiha.

 

When her gaze returned to the scar on his arm, and as her thumb ran across the depressed skin, her smile withered away.

 

“I’m fine, love. It was a very long time ago. Nothing to worry about now,” Madara comforted in a soft tone.

 

Sakura tore her eyes away from the scar to look back at him. She smiled a half hearted smile before leaning down to kiss him sweetly.

 

“Better not be…” she whispered against his mouth before pressing another lingering kiss to his lips.

 

She sat back up, her hands sliding down his chest and settling against his stomach as her rear settled against his naked pelvis. Her exploration continued once again, this time drifting to the bear inked across Madara’s right ribcage, much in the same style as the elk on the opposite side.

 

The tattoo depicted an oddly serene image, the front facing portrait of a brown bear framed by tall pine trees. Despite portraying an animal of intense power, his tattoo showed the animal as being peaceful. The black and gray piece of art was as incredibly detailed and vibrant as all the others, making Sakura feel somehow inadequate with her one tattoo of a cherry blossom on her hip.

 

“My second youngest brother, Kuma. He was six and a half feet tall and a body builder, an absolute bear of a man. Yet, conversely, he was one of the kindest people you’d ever meet,” Madara explained, a gentle smile pulling at the corners of his lips as he watched his old lady explore the art on his body, “He was actually the one to found the animal shelter that’s still run by the club.”

 

Sakura smiled broadly in response, touched by the story of the kind hearted Uchiha. She was always thrown for a loop by the dichotomy of the club. While they did undoubtedly illegal and violent activities behind closed doors, they did so much good for the community. Helping people, and even animals, live better lives.

 

Just thinking of a six and a half foot, overly muscled Uchiha in his cut playing with kittens warmed Sakura’s heart.

 

“That’s so sweet…” she hummed as she happily traced the outline of the tattoo.

 

The bear wasn’t even snarling, instead taking on an expression of tranquility as it gazed out from the ink. It was as if Madara hadn’t have the heart to depict his deceased brother as being aggressive, even for the sake of a tattoo that would be more expected of a biker.

 

The peace of the tattoo clashed harshly with the scar from a knife wound which cut across her lover’s abdomen and into the ink on his right side. One that was bisected by yet another, slightly shallower, knife wound which formed a crosscut on his stomach.

 

Sakura traced the long scar which started at Madara’s side and dipped downwards towards his navel. The marks had long since faded into thin strands of silvery skin but the meaning behind them once again filled her with anxiety and dissonance.

 

“I’m right here…” the Uchiha comforted, reaching up to cradle Sakura’s face in his broad hand, “It’s nothing to worry about…”

 

She tilted her face into his hand, closing her eyes and bringing her emotions under control. Her eyes opened but she refused to meet his gaze, instead drifting across his skin and making note of all the scars, some jarring and some unassuming. Two deep scars cutting into each of his shoulders and a gash slashed into his pectoral stood out to her the most, her fingers reaching up to trace the depressed skin.

 

Sakura wondered how many of them came from fights, how many of them came from weapons, how many of them had bodies attached to the memories...

 

Forcing herself to abandon that train of thought, her eyes drifted over to one of the final tattoos on her lover’s body: a tattoo of a wolf on his left rib cage which commanded more his entire left side and sprawled across his skin.

 

Madara’s hand slid down from her cheek to return to her thighs on either side of his hips as her attention was drawn away from his scars.

 

The half profile of the stoic looking wolf was bordered by a darkened forest, topped with a starry sky and a full moon. The black and gray tattoo was incredibly detailed and the beautiful artwork was able to exude a sense of mystery. Sakura hardly knew where to start, her eyes flicking across the tattoo and finding something new with every pass. Whoever Madara’s tattoo artist was was a master of their craft.

 

She tentatively reached over to run her fingertips across the inked skin, beginning her exploration once again.

 

“The middle child, Shisa. He was a stoic and incredibly intuitive man. He had the uncanny ability to detect even the smallest amount of discontent between family members and had no qualms about forcibly working it out...” Madara explained as her fingertips ghosted across the wolf on his side.

 

“I think that stoic is a term that can apply to nearly all of you Uchihas,” Sakura weakly teased in response, drawing a grin from her lover.

 

He chuckled. “Very true. Although I can think of a few of us who couldn’t pull off stoic if they tried.”

 

Sakura smiled as her fingertips slid across the ink one final time. Her curious gaze drifted to the final tattoos decorating her lover’s body, aside from the colored Uchiha clan crest hidden in between his shoulder blades and beneath his hair.

 

Her gaze moved from the black and gray portrait of a wolf to the numerous, thin bands inked around the circumference of Madara’s bicep. She couldn’t even count the number of bands with how numerous they were, easily number in the dozens. Her fingertips drifted down the abundant rings tattooed around his arm, starting near the middle of his bicep and spanning well down his forearm.

 

She had originally thought that the dozens of thin bands on both of Madara’s arms were identical, like some sort of decorative, geometric border to his half sleeves. Upon further investigation, however, she discovered they were uneven. His right arm had a handful more of the thin bands than his left arm.

 

Not just that, but Sakura noticed how the rings near the top of his arms seemed much older than the ones near his forearm. Realizing this, she figured out that he had gotten each band special over time. Her eyes narrowed as she realized that he was using these thin bands inked around his arms as a tally for something.

 

“What do these mean?” she asked, refusing to allow her rising anger to show through, especially when she noticed that one ring on his right arm was very new.

 

Madara was quiet for a long, tense moment, the once calm and intimate atmosphere of their private bubble popping.

 

“They’re decorative,” he finally replied, his eyes finally opening to gaze up at Sakura slowly growing more agitated above him.

 

“All of your other tattoos have a meaning,” she reminded sharply.

 

“Not those ones.”

 

“What, are those all the women you’ve slept with?” Sakura finally hissed, glaring down at the Uchiha as she voiced the source of her anger.

 

“No, they’re not,” the Uchiha answered firmly, inadvertently revealing that the bands did indeed have a meaning.

 

Sakura glowered down at the man between her thighs, meeting his stare for a dozen heartbeats. He refused to look away, non-verbally expressing to her that he was telling the truth.

 

The bands inked around his biceps and drifting down his forearms didn’t represent the women he had slept with. But they did represent something. A tally that he had kept over a lifetime, something meaningful enough that he would justify keeping count on his body, something that… oh…

 

Oh…

 

Sakura’s face dropped as a sudden realization had her heart sinking in her chest. Her eyes widened and her mouth popped open but no words came out. She gazed down at her lover and, as if realizing that she finally understood what the rings meant, he looked away.

 

Her gaze returned to the thin bands inked around Madara’s arms with a new, sickening clarity. The meaning behind the tattoos had her stomach rising into her throat, a sudden sickness overcoming her.

 

There were so many…

 

Sakura silently laid down on top of Madara, tucking her head beneath his chin. Without a word, he wrapped his arms around her middle and nuzzled the top of her head as if to try to comfort her without words.

 

They sat in silence for some time after that, neither speaking about the realization that Sakura had had. Neither dared to give a voice to the meaning behind the bands inked on Madara’s skin.

 

Even so, she felt as if the meaning behind his unassuming tattoos was being screamed at her. The realization felt like a slap to the face, telling her that his secret life was very much real, no matter how she had never seen any of it…

 

The numerous bands inked around his arms, spanning from his biceps for his forearms, represented all of the people he had killed.

 

Sakura nuzzled his neck harder, burying herself against his body, and he held her even tighter with strong arms that suddenly felt so much more dangerous.

 

* * *

 

The Uchiha gazed at Sakura, his lover sprawled out on her stomach beside him on her couch and propped up on her elbows. Three different textbooks, books which combined would weigh more than she did, laid open on the cushions in front of her. All three were heavily marked with numerous, colored sticky notes and all three were periodically referred to as she studied, the sound of flipping pages and small noises of understanding and frustration emanating from her space.

 

She wrote neat notes in a well worn notebook which sat between the three books like some sort of sacrifice. Her concentration was unflappable, even in the face of the overly dramatic action flick on the screen in front of them. A movie which neither of them paid any mind to.

 

He was far too focused on Sakura, so close yet so far away from him...

 

Ever since the week previous, when Sakura had finally discovered the meaning behind the tattoos acting as a tally on his arms, she had been acting different around him.

 

Madara understood that she would be overwhelmed by the realization that his lifestyle was very much real. That the war between the Uchiha and the Senju was a reality and resulted in deaths on both sides. That he was a soldier in that war, that he had been ever since he was born, and that as a soldier, he had taken lives.

 

He knew Sakura would see him differently when she finally fully understood his involvement in the war between the Uchiha and the Senju. However, her sudden nervousness around him left him feeling at odds with himself.

 

The Uchiha president had never felt this way for anyone before and, knowing that the woman he was in love with was so conflicted felt like someone was squeezing his heart in a vice.

 

He wanted to do something to help her overcome this worry. He wanted some way to explain to her that this was the life that nearly all the Uchiha lead. That it was the life he had always known, the one he had been born into. He wanted her to understand that he would never, _could never_ , hurt her.

 

More than anything, Madara wanted Sakura to know that he wasn’t a monster.

 

While he did monstrous things, he was no monster. Everything he did, he did to protect his family. He knew that the things he did, the acts he committed, were atrocious and vile. But he only committed them for the safety of those he loved.

 

It he didn’t, the Senju MC would come down upon them and murder them all for his weakness. Like they had killed his mother, his father, his brothers, his grandparents, his aunts, his uncles, his cousins… If he was weak for even a moment, if he showed mercy or let his guard down for even a second, then he would lose more people he loved.

 

Madara continued to wage this pointless war because anything less meant death.

 

Even so, he was terrified that the life he lead would lead to him losing the woman he had fallen in love with…

 

Madara couldn’t take his eyes off of Sakura, his gaze flicking between her hands studiously taking notes and the expression of absolute concentration on her face.

 

Sakura was so incredibly beautiful.

 

No matter what she did, Madara could never shake that thought from his mind. When she smiled, when she scowled, when she fell asleep, when she first woke up in the morning, when she fought, when she orgasmed, when her cheeks were stuffed with food, when she was tipsy, when she was drunk, when she laughed so hard her laughter turned into gasps for air, when she looked up at him with that look in her eyes that made his heart stutter in his chest… she was beautiful.

 

But in this state of hers, when she was so focused on learning what she needed to fulfill her dreams, the focus and determination she exuded was brilliantly gorgeous in his eyes.

 

Sakura was going to be such a wonderful doctor. She was going to save lives, she was going to help people, she was going to make a difference… She was going to do everything he could never seem to accomplish. She was going to be the opposite of everything he was.

 

She was so much more than he could ever bring himself to believe he deserved. And Madara felt like she was beginning to understand that. That this brief ride they had shared, as wild and passionate and blissful and perfect as it was, was going to come to an end soon.

 

Especially if she found out what the club had planned for late that night. The deal between the Senju and the Fuma would take place that night and it would only be a handful more hours before he would be steeped in blood and death once again.

 

It would only be a handful more hours before the actions that had distanced her from him, the actions that had planted the seed of fear in her heart, would once again take place. As they had before and as they inevitably would until either all of the Uchiha or all of the Senju were in their graves.

 

Madara felt an incredible sense of dissonance knowing this. He felt like a creature of tar and ash, intruding on her sacred space. Like some wild thing spying on this being of light and hope as she worked to better the world.

 

If Sakura ever learned the depths of his violence or, worse yet, bore witness to his abominations, she would flee and never look back.

 

He wasn’t a monster but, if she saw what he did, she would never think so...

 

As Madara watched her gentle movements, her deceivingly delicate hands writing and flipping the pages of her texts, he felt the vice that had been surrounding his heart tighten.

 

The Uchiha knew he only had so much time left before Sakura realized how she deserved so much better than him. So little time before his brief reprieve from the darkness, his one true experience with being in love, would be over. Tomorrow, the next day, a week, a month…

 

He needed to make the most of what little time he had with the goddess lying beside him.

 

Slowly sliding across the couch, Madara dropped his hands on either side of Sakura’s hips. He nuzzled the back of her neck, pressing a lingering kiss to her skin and taking a moment to breathe in the intoxicating scent of her hair. He settled down against her, resting his cheek against the small of her back as his arms wrapped around her waist.

 

“Dara?” she questioned in a soft tone, looking over her shoulder at him.

 

“Keep studying, love. I just want to hold you…” he explained.

 

There was a long pause before he heard the sounds of her heavy tomes closing. She moved her books into a neat stack on the floor, topped with her worn notebook, before wiggling until he released her enough for her to flip over beneath him.

 

“Come here,” his lover commanded sweetly, spreading her arms to welcome him.

 

The Uchiha fell into her open embrace, pressing his cheek to her breast as her arms looped around his neck. He settled into the space between her thighs and in her arms, feeling a fraction of the restlessness churning within him abate.

 

“What’s wrong?” She asked, her small hands finger combing his wild mane of hair as he laid on top of her, basking in her warmth.

 

“It’s nothing to worry about,” he muttered, trying to ignore how her hands briefly stopped their comforting motion.

 

Sakura didn’t respond, instead resuming her finger combing after a pregnant pause. He pressed his face into her chest farther, her uneasiness with him feeling like a stab in the stomach. An unfamiliar pain in his chest.

 

A pain that refused to subside even after she fell asleep in his embrace. A sickness that wouldn’t abate even as he carried his sleeping lover to her bed. A dread that only magnified when his phone vibrated in his pocket, signaling what he already knew.

 

The Uchiha checked the text on his phone, Obito’s name attached to the notification. The message was short but the meaning behind it was clear: ‘ _It’s time.’_

 

Madara spared one last look at his old lady, the woman who had stolen his heart. A woman of hope, a being of light, a creature of benevolence, so comfortably wrapped up in the soft blankets of her warm bed.

 

He would give anything in that moment to crawl into bed with her, to wrap his arms around the woman he loved and bask in her warmth...

 

The Uchiha turned away, the darkness from before returning as he returned his phone to his pocket.

 

Steeling his resolve, Madara left Sakura’s warm home and stepped out into the frigid night air.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A guide to Madara’s tattoos:
> 
> Hawk on his pectorals/collar bones – memorial for all those he had already lost before becoming president  
> Bull half sleeve on right arm - his father (Tajima)  
> Tiger half sleeve on left arm - his mother (Tora)  
> Wolf on left rib cage - his middle brother (Shisa)  
> Bear on right rib cage - his second youngest brother (Kuma)  
> Elk on chest/where rib cage comes together at sternum/pectorals - his youngest brother (Oshika)  
> Clan crest between shoulder blades  
> Bands on both arms - kill count
> 
> A guide to Madara’s parents and brothers:
> 
> Tajima (Madara’s father) is the Japanese word for a strain of cattle also known as the Japanese Black.  
> Tora (Madara’s mother) is the Japanese word for Tiger.  
> Madara is the Japanese word for Pacific Cod (a kind of fish that’s a winter delicacy in Japan).  
> Izuna is the Japanese word for the Least Weasel (Itachi translates to “a weasel” while Izuna is the literal name for a species of weasel).  
> Kuma is the Japanese word for Bear.  
> Oshika is the Japanese word for Stag (as in a male elk or deer).  
> Shisa are from Okinawan mythology and are protective creatures that are a cross between a lion and a dog.
> 
> I figured that since all of Hashirama’s brothers (Tobirama, Itama, and Kawarama) and his father (Butsuma) all have names that end with “rama” or “ma”, that I’d make it so all of Madara’s brothers and parents had names that ended with “a”. Also, since animals seem to be a big theme for Madara’s immediate family, I named all of his siblings and his mother after animals.


	10. Monster

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content warning: Graphic depictions of violence.

Madara watched as the Fuma patrolling the grounds made another pass around the old building that the enemy MC currently occupied. The man failed to notice the Uchiha hidden away in the oppressive darkness and the thick tree line beyond the building.

 

The dark haired male spotted three more Fuma out front of the building smoking cigarettes and chatting among themselves, unaware of the fact they were cornered.

 

Madara’s eyes flicked over to one of the windows of the old, derelict municipal building left over from before Konoha expanded. Although the windows were closed off by thick curtains, he still spotted a hint of movement inside.

 

He glanced back towards where he knew Sasuke, who was acting as spotter, lingered. This time, he was finally greeted with the signal he had been waiting for for the past thirty minutes: a rapid flashing of a flashlight.

 

The sign that meant that the Senju were finally driving down the dirt road that lead to this Fuma safe house. The sign that meant Madara only had a minute to accomplish what he needed to do.

 

Madara used his own flashlight to signal back to Sasuke that the message had been received. The elder Uchiha patiently waited until the patrolling Fuma, armed with a shotgun, rounded around the edge of the building. The Uchiha quietly drew the serrated knife he had stowed away in the sheath on his belt and emerged from the darkness. Moving on silent feet, he approached the man from behind.

 

The Uchiha grabbed the man by the forehead, dragging his head back so he could sink his blade deep into the man’s neck. Before the man could cry out and alert his companions, the point of Madara’s knife breached the barrier of skin with a muted pop, severing his windpipe and tearing through the vital artery and vein in his throat.

 

The Fuma releasing a desperate, strained gasp as his hands shot to his neck in shock. The enemy biker fought against the unyielding hands around his throat as Madara removed the blade with a long squelching noise.

 

The Uchiha covered the Fuma’s mouth with his free hand, muffling the gurgles and coughs as the man uselessly tried to cover his mortal wound. Breaths of air that should have entered and exited through his mouth and nose made a sickening frothy noise as they forced their way through his wound.

 

In a final moment of understanding and in one desperate attempt at either gaining his revenge or warning his comrades, the stranger reached for the shotgun hanging uselessly from his shoulders. Madara dropped his knife, the blade’s fall muffled by the grass below their feet, as he quickly covered the trigger to the Fuma’s weapon. The man’s hands, soaked in blood, slipped across the leather of the Uchiha’s gloves, his grip too weak and his skin too slick to fight him for his own weapon.

 

When the man wobbled precariously on his feet, the Uchiha dragging him backwards so he could lower him to the ground silently. The man trembled, his hands finally falling to his sides uselessly as he lost consciousness. Blood continued to pour from the wound in his neck as his heart continued to pump uselessly, the flow growing more sluggish with each passing second.

 

Madara released the dying man once he released his final breath, laying him flat against the ground as he divested him of his weapon. The Uchiha recovered his blade from the grass, wiping it and his blood soaked gloves off on the dying man’s shirt.

 

Only fifteen seconds left.

 

The Uchiha stood, returning his knife to its sheath and glancing around once before waving to the darkness he had abandoned. Three figures emerged from the shadows, silently making their way to Madara’s side.

 

Itachi, Shisui, and Izumi lined up along the side of the wall, weapons drawn and silencers screwed onto the ends of their barrels. Madara noticed a peculiar sway to the eldest of the trio’s steps but ignored it for the moment, too focused on the impending ambush. There was no room for distractions if he wanted his family to make it out of here alive.

 

He deposited the stolen shotgun into the hands of Izumi who accepted it with a nod. She stashed it across her shoulders, preferring the use of her single handgun. At least now, if she somehow ran out of ammo, she would have yet another backup.

 

Madara gestured to Itachi who nodded silently in response, stashing his pistol to instead remove a lock pick set from his pocket. He silently tested the back door that the dead Fuma laid in front of before kneeling next to the locked door and beginning his work.

 

Madara peered out from the edge of the building, noting that the three Fuma out front were still unaware of their invaders or the murder of their companion. He held a staying hand to the trio behind him, signaling that it was not yet time.

 

He waited patiently, watching from the darkness, as two vans pulled up in the dirt lot in front of the Fuma safe house. He watched as the occupants of the vans emptied out at the same time that more Fuma emerged from the front of the building. He easily recognized the crest of the Senju MC printed on the back of the newcomers’ cuts.

 

Waiting until the Senju and the Fuma began their conversation, he silently signaled for Itachi, Shisui, and Izumi to breach the building. The only thing that enforced that his order had been followed was the near silent click of the door shutting after the three entered.

 

“And right on time, as always. You Senju boys really know how to run a tight ship,” one of the Fuma, a burly man with five o’clock shadow, stated with a grin.

 

“And girls, thank you,” a woman, one of the Senju MC, hissed as she approached with the others of her club.

 

“My apologies, boys _and girls_. No offense to the fairer sex.”

 

“Ha! If only you knew what a monster she was,” another Senju, this one a man, chortled.

 

“Quiet, you useless ass. We’re here for business, not to stand around chatting,” the woman growled, folding her arms across her chest.

 

“Like the lady says… So, did you bring us anything interesting this time around in addition to the usual?”

 

“You know us too well. We got in a new shipment of-”

 

_Pop! Pop!_

 

Madara, and every Senju and Fuma out front, whipped around to face the Fuma safe house. The source of the two, notable _unsilenced_ , gunshots.

 

“What the fuck was that?” the Senju woman from before growled, already pulling her pistol from her waistband.

 

Madara grimaced, signaling Obito who lingered with the rest of their strike force in the surrounding woods. He drew the M16 from his back as the muted pops of silenced gunfire suddenly filled the air. The sound of bodies collapsing onto the dirt was quickly followed by the sounds of shouting and regular gunfire.

 

Madara stepped out from the side of the building, rifle raised. Using the distraction from the rest of his MC’s sneak attack, and using a neat stack of metal barrels as cover, he zeroed in on his first target. The rifle in his arms had little kick as he used a controlled burst to dispose of a distracted member of the Senju MC.

 

With adrenaline pumping through his veins and absolute focus honing his senses, time slowed down around him. The Senju fell to his knees in slow motion as Madara’s attention snapped to his next target: another Senju who was raising his handgun to fire upon him.

 

The stranger pulled off a round right before taking two bullets to the throat and head and dropping lifelessly to the ground. Madara not only heard but felt as the bullet flew past his head, making his ears ring. Unphased, the Uchiha’s eyes snapped across the battlefield, evaluating the fight at lightning speeds.

 

He spotted his club mates emerging from the darkness, the line of Uchiha easily overwhelming the remaining Fuma and Senju. Careful to avoid his clan mates, Madara pulled off one final controlled burst to end the life of a Fuma who tried to raise his gun to fire upon the advancing line of Uchiha.

 

One solitary Fuma remained, slowly emerging from his hiding place behind a wall of concrete blocks. He held his hands up in surrender, dropping his pistol on the ground as he took a few shaky steps forward.

 

“Please, just let me live! I won’t say anything, I promise, I-” the man began to beg before being cut off by Obito who raised his rifle one final time.

 

“Of course you won’t,” Obito stated matter of factly before firing one single round which shot through the Fuma’s cheek.

 

The man fell to the ground like a puppet whose strings had been cut. Obito lowered his rifle, his gaze scanning across the field with a predatory look in his one eye.

 

The rest of the Uchiha converged in a loose circle in front of the building, stepping over the corpses forming neat pools of blood on the ground. Madara’s eyes snapped over all of his family members, noting how none of them appeared to have taken any injuries. His gaze lingered on Sasuke, not failing to notice how the young prospect trembled as he stared down at the man Obito had just killed.

 

Madara’s attention diverted to Izuna when his brother scoffed loudly.

 

“We could have taken him to get more information, you know,” Izuna berated as slung his rifle over his shoulder, “You were being too hasty.”

 

“Like this pathetic excuse for a warrior could have given us anything of merit. He would have said anything to save his sorry skin,” Obito argued, returning the vice president’s glare with one of his own.

 

“Precisely the point, you _idiot_.”

 

“Enough,” Madara declared in an even tone, immediately putting an end to their bickering, “Izuna, start gathering up the goods. Since they were so kind, we’ll borrow the vans not filled with bullet holes for now. And make sure there aren’t any Senju hiding in the vehicles. Sasuke. Go with him.”

 

“Whatever you say, brother. Inabi, Yashiro, Tekka, let’s go,” Izuna replied, waving to the three men who nodded in return.

 

Sasuke said nothing as he followed his younger uncle. Madara felt a tugging in his chest when he noticed that Sasuke’s hands held his gun so tightly that his knuckles were white. His nephew’s trembling made him feel sick to his stomach and he briefly wondered if his own father felt this sense of self-abhorrence when Madara or any of his brothers had seen their first battlefield.

 

He wondered what Sakura would think if she saw this.

 

Unable to afford the distraction of conflicted feelings at that moment, he mentally shook himself to return to his current situation.

 

“Obito. You, Naori, and Naka go through and make sure all these bastards are dead... And take their cuts while you’re at it,” Madara continued, his eyes scanning the field for any sign of movement.

 

“Not a problem at all,” Obito stated, ignoring his rifle in favor of drawing the buck knife from his boot, “We could use some more _trophies_.”

 

“And try not to make too big of a fucking mess,” Madara growled, scowling at his bloodthirsty cousin.

 

“No promises,” the sergeant at arms grumbled in response, already advancing on a Senju who was still drawing in desperate, gurgling gasps of air despite being unable to move.

 

Madara sighed before turning to look towards the building that he had sent Itachi, Shisui, and Izumi into earlier.

 

“Kagami, you’re with me. We’ll go check on the trio. One of them screwed up and someone was able to pull off a round before the time was right…” he stated before muttering under his breath, “And I have a feeling I know who…”

 

“You got it, prez,” the young Uchiha replied, stowing his own rifle in exchange for a much more maneuverable pistol.

 

“Alright. Let’s finish this up.”

 

* * *

 

Normally, the feeling of the freezing wind against his face and the sensation of speed would feel like a balm. A cold ointment on a fresh burn. A calm to the storm in his heart.

 

As Madara rode now, the once comforting sensations felt more like a punishment. The wind was biting, like pins digging into his burning skin, and the speed brought with it none of the pleasure it normally did.

 

The city around him was nearly unoccupied at this early morning hour, well before the rising of the sun but far past it’s setting. Last call at the bars had ended hours ago and the only people who still lingered on the streets were far from interested in him flying by on his bike.

 

Madara found himself expressing the same disinterest, taking the same roads he had always taken to reach his home. The streetlights and neon store signs were a blur as he flew down the darkened roads, the locations unimportant as he made his way to his destination. He was far too distracted by the events that had taken place not even a few hours previous to care about his surroundings past avoiding any stray Senju and the police.

 

Madara felt that he should be happy with the outcome of this battle.

 

The Uchiha’s ambush on the Senju MC and the Fuma MC had gone spectacularly well. None had any inkling that the Uchiha’s had known of this deal and their lack of paranoia had lead to his family’s overwhelmingly decisive victory.

 

Even more than that, no one in his family had died or taken any serious injuries.

 

Shisui had taken a bullet in the calf but, luckily, the round had gone straight through and hadn’t hit anything vital. The dumbass had shown up to the battle buzzed and had been the one to botch the assault. He had tried to ambush one of the Fuma inside but his attack had missed it’s mark and had allowed the Fuma the opportunity to pull off two rounds.

 

Madara would kick his young cousin’s ass for his lack of even half a brain but figured that actually getting _shot_ would do the trick just fine.

 

It was a good thing that the bullet had gone straight through as Itachi had been able to patch Shisui up just fine. Any injuries sustained during melees such as these could only be tended to by their own. None of them could go to the hospital since the hospital workers were obligated to report any gunshot wounds or similar violent injuries to the police.

 

The police would catch wind of this massacre soon enough, at least if the Senju didn’t show up and clean up first, and the pigs would easily connect the dots if any of the Uchiha had been stupid enough to go to the hospital. If Shisui had needed to go to the hospital, the best case scenario would be him taking the fall for the murder of nearly two dozen people. Worst case, the entire mother chapter of the Uchiha MC could be sent to prison.

 

Everyone in the club knew that none of them could go to the hospital for any injuries resulting from battle and gladly accepted their fates. They would rather die with the comfort of their brothers and sisters following a battle than have the ones they loved rot in prison for the rest of their lives.

 

Even so, and even though Madara was furious with Shisui for more reasons than one, he was incredibly grateful that the younger Uchiha hadn’t been seriously injured.

 

An outcome that Madara should have been more satisfied with, along with the outcome of the battle itself.

 

Two dozen of their enemies, Senju and Fuma alike, now laid dead thanks to their efforts. The goods that once belonged to their foes, an incredibly hefty supply of ammunition and a variety of military grade assault rifles, now took up space in one of the numerous Uchiha storage bases. Guns and ammo that would now work for the Uchiha MC instead of against it.

 

The corpses of the Senju and Fuma, stripped of their pride, remained littered around the site where the botched deal had taken place as a warning to the Senju MC: That if they attacked the Uchiha MC, they would be returned the same damage tenfold.

 

Madara would have the stolen cuts dropped off at the gates of the Senju and the Fuma MC with the Uchiha MC crest printed on the box. Not only would this action serve as an even clearer warning to both of the clubs but it would prevent an even harsher retaliation in the future if the Senju or the Fuma decided to take back the cuts of their dead so they could bury the fallen with their pride.

 

Madara should have been happy but no matter what he tried to say to console himself, he knew that this battle would only lead to even more bloodshed in the future. He remained distracted, too caught up in his thoughts to bask in a victory that would have once felt less hollow.

 

He was almost surprised when he pulled to a stop not outside of his own home but on the curb of the sidewalk outside of Sakura’s apartment.

 

He gazed up at the darkened window that he knew was hers, every fiber of his being begging him to head back up to her home and get out of this freezing night air. To crawl into her warm bed and wrap himself around his lover’s small, soft body. To bask in her calming scent and her affection. To forget any of this had happened that night and to forget about what was inevitably going to come to pass because of it.

 

Madara sighed as he glanced down at his shirt. Even in the darkness, the nearby street lamp cast just enough light on him for his eyes to pick up the dark splotches of blood on his shirt and the reddish stains on his wrists where his gloves hadn’t covered him. Not only that, but he could still feel the grittiness of dirt and burnt gunpowder on his hands and in between his teeth.

 

He couldn’t let her see him like this. He couldn’t expose her to this part of his life…

 

A sense of hollowness overcame him as he twisted the throttle on his bike and left her apartment complex, instead heading towards his own home. His dark, cold, and empty house.

 

A house that didn’t feel any lighter when he burned his blood splattered clothes in the fire pit out back. A home that didn’t feel any warmer when he took a scalding hot shower and watched as the blood and grit swirled down the drain. And a building that only felt that much more empty when he crawled into a cold bed where he was unable to fall asleep...

 

* * *

 

Madara leaned back against the soft cloth couch, his burning eyes slowly shutting as he stretched out. A pair of delicate hands smoothed across his arm, soft fingertips running across his skin.

 

No matter what he had done when he had gotten home, he couldn’t fall asleep. The events of that night continued to play on repeat in his tired mind, not allowing him to get any rest despite the exhaustion dominating his body.

 

Needing something to distract himself with, he had left his house in the wee hours of the morning and gone to visit the woman whose couch he now laid across.

 

Madara felt his phone vibrate in the pocket of his cut, the feeling that much more distinct since he didn't wear a shirt beneath the leather. He fished out his phone and cracked open his eyes to tap in his pass code.

 

Gazing down at the message, he felt his heart drop down into his stomach.

 

‘ _Hey, where’d you go last night? I was worried when I woke up alone’_

 

Madara felt shame well within him as he stared down at the message from Sakura. A sense of discomfort that only magnified as he formulated his lie.

 

‘ _There was a problem at the clubhouse that needed my attention but nothing to worry about. I’m sorry I left but you looked too cute snoring with your mouth open to wake up’_

 

‘ _I do not snore! Least of all with my mouth open!!!’_

 

A halfhearted smile quirked up the corner of his lip as Madara imagined Sakura’s furious face. She was so beautiful when she was angry...

 

‘ _I believe I would know, having actually seen you asleep. You must have really needed the rest, with all your studying…’_

 

‘ _I do not snore, you jerk. And stop changing the subject! You know you could have woken me up’_

 

“Is that that girl you’ve been seeing?” a feminine voice asked from beside him.

 

“Yes, it’s Sakura,” he replied simply.

 

“Hmm…” the woman hummed in response, her fingertips dragging down his arm.

 

‘ _I’m sorry, hellcat. I’ll make it up to you tonight. How does curry and a pirated copy of the new action flick that came out sound?’_

 

‘ _Maybe I can forgive you… Even though you’re such an outlaw, pirating movies’_

 

Sakura’s words felt like a punch in the stomach. She teased him, saying he was an outlaw, but if she knew the truth… If she knew he had killed three men that night…

 

She would never forgive him.

 

‘ _I’ll see you tonight. Have a good day at work’_

 

‘ _I can’t wait. I love you’_

 

‘ _And I love you’_

 

Madara tucked his phone back into his pocket with a sigh, finally giving the woman next to him his full attention once again.

 

“All done, dear,” the woman stated, gazing down at her work with a smile.

 

Madara’s eyes drifted down from the gray haired woman sitting beside him to the three brand new, crisply tattooed bands around his bicep. As always, the rings were perfectly symmetrical, matching the others flawlessly.

 

“Thank you, Aunt Uruchi. They look as precise as ever,” he complimented sincerely, twisting his arm to get a good look at the new rings adding to his tally.

 

“You’re very welcome,” the elderly tattoo artist replied with a warm smile as she used a wet cloth to gently clean his newest tattoos.

 

As Uruchi went about cleaning up her tattooing supplies from the coffee table in her living room, Madara shucked off his cut just long enough to pull his long sleeve shirt back over his head. He pulled his cut back onto his shoulders, the weight of his phone in his pocket bringing with it the same shame from before. He sighed as he rubbed the bridge of his nose before fishing out his wallet from the opposite side.

 

“Same as usual?” he asked, already counting out the cash he needed to pay his aunt.

 

“Same as usual,” she replied, accepting the bills from her nephew and setting them on her coffee table.

 

Before Madara could stand to leave, Uruchi spoke once again, “But before you leave…”

 

“What is it?” he prompted respectfully, sitting back down on the edge of the couch.

 

“Now, I’ve told you this a dozen times and I’ll tell you a thousand times more… You be careful out there. And you do good by our family,” she instructed in a firm voice as she finally removed her gloves with a snap and dropped them into the trash with the rest of her used supplies.

 

“Of course. I promise that I am. And I will, as I always do,” Madara promised sincerely.

 

Uruchi patted her nephew on the cheek with a warm, almost motherly smile.

 

“Good. And one last thing.”

 

“Yes?”

 

“You need to hurry up and marry that sweet pink haired girl before she runs off!” she instructed, laughing when Madara grinned and shook his head, “Women like her only show up once in a lifetime, especially for people in a family like ours. Don’t waste your chance while she’s here with you now.”

 

“I’m trying,” he replied honestly, his hand reaching up to rub the spot where he knew his new rings were now inked into his skin.

 

Uruchi frowned as she took in her nephew’s troubled expression. When she set a gentle hand on Madara’s knee, he met her gaze once again.

 

“You’re a good man, Madara. You’re only doing your best to keep us all safe. You’re the best president we’ve ever had, at least in my lifetime,” she started, drawing a surprised look from the younger Uchiha.

 

“Aunt-” he started.

 

“Hush now, sweet boy, I’m not done. Now, if she loves you, if she truly loves you… Then she will be able to see you for who you are and not just what you do.”

 

“I…” he paused for a long moment, feeling overwhelmed by his aunt’s wise words, “Thank you… I hope she will.”

 

Uruchi smiled warmly, patting Madara on the knee before finishing cleaning up her supplies.

 

* * *

 

The maelstrom in Madara’s mind had yet to calm when he finally found himself in front of Sakura’s door that afternoon, a bag of curry from a restaurant downtown hanging from one hand and his other raised to knock on her door.

 

The weight of his actions late that previous night weighed heavily on his shoulders. The lives he had taken in cold blood and the dull burn on the new ink in his skin. The sight of Sasuke’s trembling as his nephew stared down at the corpses littered at their feet. The thought of what Sakura’s reaction would have been if she saw him sink his knife into that man’s throat.

 

Madara lived for the fight. Ever since his first brawl as a young boy, he loved the thrill of a fight. He dedicated a portion of his life to pursuing the martial arts and the excitement never dimmed even after decades of battles. Even the first brawls he had taken part in as a member of the club had felt like fire in his blood. The sights, the sounds, even the taste of his own blood was exhilarating.

 

His favorite past time first lost a bit of its luster, however, when he first beat a Senju to death with his bare hands. The thrill of the fight began to lose its remorseless excitement when he began to leave bodies in his wake.

 

Madara found that taking lives left him with a deep sense of bone chilling dread. He could never shake the feeling that whatever lives he took would one day be taken back from him in the form of the lives of those he loved.

 

And he had yet to be wrong. Each band tattooed around his arms could be tied not only to the life of a foe but to the life of one of his own family members.

 

The wild haired man had always been able to put aside what he felt in order to do what he needed to protect his family - even if it felt as if every thing he did to protect those he loved just afforded them more graves in the clan plot - but now, when he thought of what the woman he loved would think, the sense of dread and incredible wrongness was unable to be abated.

 

Madara’s thoughts tumbled mercilessly in his mind, a riotous mess of duty, hopelessness, and self deprecation, as he knocked on Sakura’s front door. He closed his eyes for a long moment, trying to soothe his burning eyes, before he took a steeling breath. He hoped that he could hide his discontent even if he couldn’t hide the deepening bags beneath his eyes.

 

His gaze snapped up to meet the eyes of his lover as she opened the door. As she greeted him with the love struck smile she saved only for him, he felt as his mind became suddenly and blissfully silent. All of the dark thoughts, the fears and the guilt and the hopelessness that had been plaguing him, washed away as if taken by a tide.

 

As Madara returned her smile, he finally relaxed, releasing a tension in his shoulders that he hadn’t even realized he had been holding.

 

Just being in Sakura’s presence for only a few moments had been the only thing that had brought him any comfort after a night filled with violence and death. His home, which had felt dark, cold, and empty, held nothing to the warmth he felt when he was with her.

 

Finally being with her again, finally gazing into her emerald eyes again, felt like coming home.

 

“Hey,” Sakura greeted sweetly, snapping him out of his stupor.

 

“Hello, my hellcat,” Madara purred as he stepped inside, dropping the bag of food on the inside of her door, immediately forgotten.

 

He wrapped his arms around her, lifting her up as he pulled her into an embrace. She laughed aloud, her giggles sounding like music to his ears, as her toned legs wrapped around his waist and her arms around his neck. He couldn’t wipe the smile from his face as he gazed up at the woman he loved, so overwhelmed by the sudden feeling of weightlessness and peace.

 

Sakura dropped her forehead against his, a wide smile stretched across her lips. Her dainty fingers threaded into hair, his eyes sliding halfway shut in satisfaction. When their lips finally met in a tender kiss, his entire world narrowed until only she occupied his thoughts and attention.

 

A place where he decided he desperately needed to show her how much he loved her.

 

Madara wanted, needed, to be close to her. To bask in the warmth of her body, the softness of her skin, the scent of her hair. He wanted to make her feel as good as she made him feel.

 

He wanted to feel warm after a day of feeling nothing but cold.

 

Sakura could sense the sudden need in his kisses and didn’t shy away from it, instead returning his increasingly insistent kisses with her own. Their greeting kiss rapidly escalated into something more, their lips moving against each others' passionately. When he stepped forward to carry her to her couch, she had already kicked shut her front door.

 

He gently laid her down against the couch, his arms caging her against the cushions as her hands threaded into his hair. He fought against his immediate desire to just push aside her shorts and panties and take her. He wanted this to be more than just finding pleasure in one another, he wanted to show her how much he loved her. How much she meant to him, how incredibly lucky he felt having her… how much he would miss her when she left.

 

When the Uchiha ran his tongue across her lips, the small whimper that escaped her made him want to growl and bite. To sink his teeth into her neck and pull a bruise to the surface of her soft skin. To leave another mark on her, claiming her as his own for as long as he could.

 

Instead, his large palm reached up to cradle the side of her face, his thumb sweeping across her chin to open her mouth. Her short fingernails dragged down the nape of his neck as he pressed his tongue between her lips, her own greeting his.

 

Sakura’s thighs tightened around his waist, pulling him closer to her center and unintentionally digging his handgun into his lower back. The sudden reminder felt like a blast of freezing water and sent a chill through his body.

 

Before Madara could think further on the night before, the hopelessness he felt when he thought of how to end this pointless war and the fear of losing more of his loved ones in the future, he broke their kiss to pull away from her and sink down between her thighs.

 

Sakura gazed down at him with half lidded eyes, confused, as she tried to catch her breath. His broad hands slid up her thighs and beneath her shirt to settle on the dip of her waist, pushing up the hem of her top as he went. He pressed his face against the warm skin of her soft belly, taking a deep breath to ground himself to her once again.

 

When he began to press lingering kisses to her stomach, his lover sighed in satisfaction and arched against him. The feeling of her powerful muscles moving beneath the skin under his hands as she arched brought him entirely back to her.

 

Madara’s kisses spanned from hip bone to hip bone, his lips lingering on Sakura’s lower stomach as selfish fantasies refused to be ignored.

 

As he slowly dragged her top upwards, he meticulously pressed gentle kisses to every inch of revealed skin. Her soft, breathless moans and her fingertips brushing his ebony bangs from his face had him focused on nothing but her.

 

When he revealed her breasts, his hands sliding over her soft mounds, he was thrilled that his lover rarely wore a bra. He could immediately wrap his lips around one of her rosy nipples, his tongue running across its peak. Her moan was heated as he teased her sensitive bud, her blunt fingernails dragging across the skin of his scalp.

 

Madara groaned against her breast, sucking on her nipple and running his tongue across the delicate nub once more before repeating the same attention on the other. Sakura arched against him, desperate to get some friction against her needy core, as he slowly stoked her arousal.

 

When he pushed up her top that much farther, she grabbed the hem and pulled it the rest of the way off. When she stretched far behind her to drop the unimportant piece of cloth onto the floor, he sunk down to nuzzle the taut skin of her stomach. She sighed in bliss as he brushed his lips across the tender skin of her stretching body, his ebony hair tickling her skin as he went.

 

The Uchiha’s hands slid down her sides, marveling at the softness of her skin, until reaching her shorts. His fingertips teased the skin beneath the waistband of her shorts as his lips continued to tease her soft stomach. He continued his reverent treatment of her as he slowly pulled down her shorts, his lover lifting her hips to help him.

 

Instead of pressing his teeth into her tender skin, instead of escalating into a baser excitement, Madara’s affections were nothing but tender passion. Gentle, exploring hands meticulously stroked and cradled her soft body. His hair brushed across her skin as he mapped her body with his mouth.

 

It was a tenderness that continued to draw soft cries and whimpers from his lover. When his fingertips finally hooked around the hem of her panties, he could already smell Sakura’s heady arousal, sending a rush of blood to his painfully straining length.

 

Madara sat up to remove her shorts and panties from her toned legs, soon returning to the space at her center. He pressed worshiping kisses to the delicate skin of the inside of her thighs, the scent of her arousal making his head spin.

 

It took a moment for Madara to become aware of Sakura’s small hands tugging at the leather of his cut. He immediately obeyed her silent request, abandoning the strip of leather over the back of her couch. For once in his life, he was glad to have the weight of it off of his back if it meant he could feel her hands against his skin.

 

Sakura pulled him back down by his shirt to meet her, pressing their lips together once more. Her small hands smoothed down his chest and slipped underneath his shirt. Her lips and tongue passionately moving against his and her hands tenderly roaming across the planes of muscle of his chest felt like devotion.

 

He reached up to grab the nape of his shirt, breaking their kiss just long enough to pull his shirt off. Their lips immediately returned to each others', neither willing to spend a moment longer than needed separated from each other.

 

Madara’s hand sunk between their bodies to find her core, his fingertips pressing between her delicate folds. He groaned deep in his throat when he felt how wet she was, her feminine passage nearly dripping with her arousal. He pressed one of his long fingers into her channel, his digit easily sliding deep within her. She sighed against his lips, her hands grasping his shoulders as she arched into his hand.

 

He added a second finger into her soaking passage, both fingers easily sliding in and out of her. He ground his palm against her clit, his lover dropping her head back against the cushions to gasp for breath. He took advantage of her exposed throat and pressed his lips to the tender flesh.

 

“Dara, please…” Sakura whimpered as he teased her clit.

 

Madara pressed one last open mouth kiss to her throat before sitting up to rapidly unbuckle and unzip his jeans. His painfully hard member bounced free from the confines of his pants as he tugged down his jeans.

 

Sakura reached between her thighs to wrap her soft hand around his length. He sucked in a breath and bucked into her hands as she began to pump his already weeping member. Her fingers tightened around his length, teasing the head of his swollen length. Her thumb swept across the tip of his cock, smearing the bead of precum there, and sent a shiver of pleasure down his spine.

 

He toed off his boots and dropped his jeans, handgun and all, onto the floor behind him. Grasping her muscled thighs in his broad hands, he easily lifted her and hooked her knees around his shoulders. She continued to massage the head of his member as she pressed her sopping folds against the base of his cock. His lover moaned aloud when he ground his hardness against her clit, her arousal slicking the underside of his length.

 

Madara pulled back to position the head of his member against Sakura’s opening. He slowly sunk deep within her welcoming passage, relishing the feeling of her soaking channel greedily accepted each thick inch of his hard member. Her mouth fell open in a silent cry, her hands desperately grasping his thighs as he filled her to the brim.

 

He groaned as he fully hilted himself within her, his hips flush against hers and the tip of his member pressing against her inner barrier. When he finally began to move, sinking in and out of her tight, hot passage, she released pleasured gasps that made his length twitch within her.

 

Madara’s hand sunk down between her thighs to rub circles around her clit with his thumb. Sakura moaned desperately as his thumb pressed against her most sensitive nub, her hips bucking against his and her thighs tightening around his shoulders.

 

He wanted to sink his cock into her deeply and roughly, to succumb to the impossible and animalistic desire to try to breach her innermost barrier and fuck her deeper than anyone ever had, to fill her deepest and most feminine place with his seed.

 

Instead of pounding into her, the Uchiha maintained his gentle and passionate thrusts. His thumb continued to rub circles around her swollen clit as he grasped her toned thigh in his large hand. As he filled her over and over, he pressed lingering kisses to the inside of her knee hooked over his shoulder.

 

This was the most gentle and passionate they had ever had sex. He didn’t want to fuck her, he wanted to make love to her. Wanted to show her how much he loved her with his body.

 

“Ahh, Dara… this-this, ah...” Sakura cried out breathlessly, meeting his gentle thrusts with her own.

 

“Tell me, love…” Madara purred against her thigh, gazing down at her heatedly.

 

“You feel so good, oh gods… I’m not, I...” she whimpered, her hands desperately grasping at his thighs.

 

He could feel her orgasm building around his penetrating cock, her walls tightening around him as if to pull him even farther within her passage.

 

“You have no idea what you do to me...” he groaned against her skin, referring not just to her power over him with her body but what she made him feel. How she had effortlessly distracted him from the darkness of his life.

 

Madara’s thumb increased its pace circling Sakura’s clit although his thrusts into her did not waver. She came with a broken moan, her fingers desperately grasping to his thighs and arm for balance in the face of her pleasure. Her inner walls rhythmically squeezed around his hardness, her passage nearly gushing around his length.

 

He groaned deep in his throat as he felt her orgasm, knowing that if he just fucked her hard for a few moments that he could easily cum within her sopping channel. Instead, he continued to drag out her orgasm, his thumb slowing but not stopping as he pleasured her nub.

 

When Sakura’s walls stopped clenching around his member, signaling the end of her first orgasm, Madara pulled his legs off of his shoulders. He wanted to be even closer to her, to feel more of her soft skin, to feel her hands against his body, to taste her lips again.

 

Her legs wrapped around his hips, allowing him deeper passage within her folds, as he pressed lingering kisses to her throat. His hips rolled against hers, pressing against her clit with each thrust he filled her with.

 

“Dara…” Sakura keened, the desperation in her voice drawing him back up to her.

 

When their lips met again, it was nothing but passion. Lips and tongues moving against each other so lovingly, bodies and hands sliding against one another so perfectly, that Madara knew he would never stop loving this woman. He would remember this moment with her until the day he died.

 

His lover’s next orgasm was a slow build and washed over her from head to toe. Her thighs tightened around his waist and her fingers buried into his hair as she came, her lips not stopping in their movement against his even as her body trembled under the force of her pleasure.

 

Madara finally followed her, overcome by the passion behind the Sakura’s affections. He sunk into her as deeply as he could twice, feeling as his own finish built in his belly, before burying himself within her. He kissed her desperately as he finished deep inside of her, his straining member filling her with bursts of his seed as his hips rocked against hers.

 

Even as the pleasure from both of their finishes slowly waned away, and even as his length slowly softened within her, he didn’t stop kissing her.

 

Madara wanted to enjoy this moment, to live in the moment, as much as he could. He wanted to absorb as much of this as he could, to ingrain memories of Sakura’s love, in his mind forever. He never wanted to forget moments like these, moments where he got to bask in her love and her warmth.

 

He only had so long with her and wanted to be able to remember the time he had with her until the day he died.

 

“Did I do something special?” Sakura asked breathlessly in between kisses, a sated smile stretched across her lips.

 

“Giving an old biker like me a chance,” Madara answered honestly, kissing her sweetly once again.

 

She smiled against his lips and, when he finally pulled away, she hummed, “You’re so much more than that.”

 

He smiled widely, pressing his forehead against hers as he gazed into the eyes of the woman he loved.

 

* * *

 

Later that night, after the lovers’ finally ate the food Madara had abandoned at her door when he first arrived and after they had changed into their pajamas, they laid together on her couch, wrapped up in each others' arms. A blanket was loosely thrown over them, covering them both and creating a warm space they shared.

 

His arms were wrapped around Sakura’s waist, his check pressed to her breast as she nuzzled the top of his head. Her arms were looped around his neck, her fingers gently combing through his wild hair.

 

The action flick he had gotten from Kagami played in the background, neither of them paying it any mind as they cuddled. It was still early, the sun having just set, but he could feel himself drifting off to the comforting feeling of the Sakura’s fingers carding through his hair and the soothing thrum of her beating heart.

 

Before he drifted off completely, Madara muttered, “I love you.”

 

Sakura brushed his hair to the side to whisper in his ear, “I love you.”

 

Smiling sleepily, he finally drifted off for the first time in over thirty-six hours.

 

* * *

 

When Madara woke up that next morning, it was to the comforting feeling of Sakura’s arms wrapped around him. They had migrated in their sleep, her head tucked under his chin as she cuddled up to his chest. He held her protectively, her small body occupying the tiny space between his body and the back of the couch.

 

The biker had never slept with his back to a door, always wanting to have his eyes on the entrance, but now, he slept between her and the door to keep her from any danger first.

 

Madara nuzzled the top of Sakura’s head and smiled against her hair, feeling so incredibly at peace with the woman he loved. He didn’t want to wake her, instead just basking in her warmth and in the calm of the room. The calm she brought into his life.

 

He had never been happier. The storm from the night before still lingered in the back of his mind but he could find his calm in her arms.

 

Was this what love felt life?

 

When the Uchiha felt her begin to stir in his arms, he planted kisses to her hairline and pulled her closer.

 

“Good morning, hellcat,” Madara whispered against the crown of her head.

 

“Mmm, good morning, Dara,” Sakura mumbled as she snuggled up to him with a contented sigh.

 

They laid on the couch for a long while after having already woken up, just basking in each other’s warmth and affection. His fingers gently combed through her short tresses and she refused to leave the space against his chest.

 

When Sakura finally tried to get up, he pulled her back down onto the couch and caged her against the cushions with his arms.

 

“Where do you think you’re going?” he questioned, pressing kisses to Sakura’s neck and drawing giggles from his lover.

 

“Ahh, your stubble is scratchy!” she yelped through her laughter, “Hey, stop it! I have to pee!”

 

Madara smiled against her neck, pressing one last lingering kiss to her throat before deciding, “Hmm, okay. I’ll suppose I can allow you to leave just this once.”

 

“Oh, handsome and gracious?” Sakura laughed, shaking her head in amusement before crawling out of his arms.

 

While she went off to the bathroom, he finally sat up on the couch and stretched out. He felt as if he had gotten one of the best nights sleep of his life and, when he glanced over at the clock hanging from her wall, he realized that he had slept for nearly twelve hours.

 

As he stood and rubbed at his still burning eyes, he realized that he had fallen asleep in his contacts again. Deciding he’d just take out his contacts and wear his glasses for the rest of the day, he headed to his old lady’s bathroom.

 

They switched places, sharing a quick kiss as they went. Sakura went to go start that morning’s coffee while he relieved himself as well. She returned shortly after and they both brushed their teeth together, him using the toothbrush she had gotten especially for him.

 

Once Madara finished rinsing and returned his toothbrush to the holder they shared, he fished out the container for his contacts and a spare pair of glasses he had stored in her bathroom.

 

“Oh no, did you forget to take them out again?” Sakura asked as she began to brush out her hair.

 

“It’s no big deal,” he replied as he opened the container and leaned in close to the mirror to try to remove his contacts.

 

Sakura laughed softly as she watched his discomfort before she teased, “You gotta stop falling asleep in those. You always wake up so miserable.”

 

“I woke up blissful this morning, wrapped up around you. I wasn’t leaving you arms last night for this minor inconvenience,” Madara replied with a smile as he fished out one of his contacts.

 

He blinked rapidly a few times as he stored the dry contact in the container.

 

“Aww, Dara…” Sakura purred, standing on the tips of her toes and silently demanding a kiss.

 

The Uchiha smiled, leaning over to press a peck to her lips.

 

As he removed out his final contact, Sakura removed a towel from her bathroom cabinet.

 

“Leave one out for me too,” he asked, her giving him a saucy smile as she pulled another towel from the cabinet.

 

Sakura started the shower and began stripping off her pajamas, him watching happily, even with blurry vision, as each inch of her soft skin was revealed. When she hopped into the spray of hot water, he stripped off his fish print pajamas and long sleeve shirt to join her.

 

The first part of their showers was always functional, even if they did often try to help one another just to have an excuse to touch each other. Madara himself loved how her toned body felt slick with soap and Sakura got some strange pleasure out of helping him with his unreasonable hair.

 

This shower was no different, him helping her soap up just to feel each curve of her body slick with soap. She helped him shampoo and condition his long hair, even helping him rinse out the products from his thick mane. He was even able to shave his face in the mirror hanging in the shower before she took back her razor to shave herself.

 

Madara stepped back to watch his old lady rinse off, already mostly hard from the feeling of her wet, slippery body against his.

 

“You are so beautiful, hellcat…” he purred, watching as the soap slid off her soft body in the spray of water.

 

When Sakura wiped the water out of her eyes, he drew her into his arms and pulled her against his own water slick body. She smiled up at him, sliding her hands up his chest and running her fingers across each ridge of muscle on his stomach and chest.

 

Madara returned her smile, dipping down to press his lips to hers. She returned his kiss enthusiastically and, when she nipped his bottom lip playfully, he pressed her against the wall of the shower.

 

“Ah! Hey! The wall is cold!” Sakura yelped, pushing back against him and away from the wall of the shower as her hands came up to grasp his forearms.

 

When her fingertips settled on the three new bands tattooed on his forearm, he tensed. When her fingertips brushed along the raised skin where the new ink laid, and as her eyes turned to gaze upon the crisp new rings, he watched as her face fell.

 

“I…” Sakura started weakly before trailing off, running the pads of her fingers across the raised skin of the three new tattoos.

 

She opened her mouth to speak once more but no words came out.

 

Madara felt as the mood was immediately lost, the sudden reminder of who he was and what he did feeling like a freezing bucket of water had been dumped on the both of them. She dropped her forehead against his chest, her hands slipping down his arms and falling to their sides.

 

Madara wanted to say something, anything, to bring back the warmth they had shared. To bring back their carefree interactions from the last day. He had finally been able to put aside what he had done, to stop thinking about this pointless, endless war for the night. To have Sakura despair over his new tattoos, over the fact he had killed three men the previous night, forced him to confront the hopelessness of his life and the fact that this would never work out between them.

 

Forced him to remember the fact that he only had so much longer with her. The fact that, in the face of her discovery, he might only have a few minutes left with her.

 

Madara’s arms tightened around Sakura, wanting her own arms to reach up and wrap around him once more. He dropped his forehead against the cold wall of the shower, wishing they could go back to that previous night or even this morning. Back to before she had noticed his new ink, when she still saw him as him and not a monster.

 

Aunt Uruchi’s words came back to him in that moment and he wondered if Sakura would see him for who he was or only what he did…

 

Madara held Sakura for as long as he could, the only thing finally pulling them from the shower being the spray of water losing it’s heat. She was the one to leave first, slipping out of his embrace and out of the shower. She dried off her hair before working on drying off her body as he quickly did the same.

 

He would feel a panic welling within him, fear creeping in from the edges of his mind. He was terrified she was going to leave him right now with how distant and withdrawn she was being.

 

Madara wasn’t ready to lose the woman he was madly in love with yet. Just a little bit longer and he’d be satisfied...

 

Stepping forward, he wrapped Sakura in his arms from behind, dropping his forehead against her neck. He wanted to show her how much he loved her, how much he wanted her to stay, how happy she made him but didn’t know how to say it. Didn't know how to convince her to stay before she said she wanted to leave.

 

“I love you more than I’ve ever loved anyone…” Madara whispered against the nape of her neck.

 

The heavy silence that followed had his heart in a vice. He was terrified of what her next words would be.

 

Would she tell him to leave? That they were over? That it would never work out between them, that she could never truly love a man like him?

 

When Sakura finally spoke, she asked a question he hadn’t expected.

 

“Will it ever stop?”

 

After a long pause of his own, Madara answered honestly, “I don’t know.”

 

She dropped her head, her hands coming up to weakly grasp his arms wrapped around her. A shiver ran through her body and it wasn’t until she sniffled that he realized she was crying.

 

“Sakura, I…” Madara started, panic welling within him as she began to cry.

 

He had never heard her cry and the sorrow taking over her form was something he was at a loss over how to handle. He didn’t know what to do or what to say in the face of her tears, only knowing to hold her tighter.

 

Madara wanted to comfort Sakura but didn’t know how. He wanted to tell her that everything was okay but knew that that was a lie. He wanted to tell her he would never hurt her but his own actions were hurting her now. He wanted to tell her to please not run away, that he loved her, that he needed her now, but the words caught in his throat.

 

“I will never let anything happen to you…” he whispered into her damp hair, holding her tightly as she cried.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Inabi, Yashiro, and Tekka (the three who helped Izuna and Sasuke gather up the stolen goods) are the three Uchiha who confronted Itachi in the canon universe. Naori and Naka (the man and woman who helped Obito kill off any survivors) are from before the Warring States Era. Naori created Izanami and first used it on Naka after he went mad with power following the use of Izanagi. Uruchi, the tattoo artist, is Itachi and Sasuke’s aunt in canon.


	11. Hurt and Comfort

Sakura sat at her desk, blearily staring into the too bright computer screen in front of her. If it wasn’t for the clock at the corner of the screen, she would have no idea what time it was.

 

Open textbooks were piled onto her desk, pages upon pages of notes, flashcards, and numerous sticky notes strewn across her work space. Dozens of tabs were open on her computer, some being scientific articles, some being tabs from her university, and others study materials for her exams. Despite having already passed the first of the four Konoha Medical Licensing Examinations needed to become a doctor, she knew that if she slacked now, she could easily fail these next two examinations and not continue onward to her residency.

 

Sakura hadn’t taken a shower in over three days and still wore the same mismatched pajamas from two days ago. Her greasy hair remained unbrushed, instead secured to the top of her head in a rat’s nest with a clip. A headband kept her stringy bangs out of her equally greasy face.

 

She couldn’t remember the last time she had eaten a proper meal. A dozen coffee cups were precariously scattered about her work space, intermingling with empty take out boxes and protein bar wrappers and carelessly overflowing onto the floor.

 

She should be focusing all of her attention on her studies since her formal schooling was about to be coming to an end. She was about to take the exams she needed to graduate medical school and start her residency and she needed to know everything there was if she wanted to pass. She couldn’t fail, she couldn’t afford to fail. She had waited nearly her entire life for this and it was finally her chance to accomplish her dream.

 

Her brain was frazzled after spending the past week doing nothing but studying. She had sacrificed all of her vacation days and pulled numerous favors from her coworkers at the hospital to free up these couple weeks to prepare for her exams.

 

Sakura had hardly seen or spoken to anyone aside from delivery people from the various restaurants around town and Sasuke, who had come to check up on her at the beginning of her study binge. He had brought her enough instant coffee to last the week and enough high calorie protein bars to keep her from starving.

 

When Sakura had tried to ask the Uchiha how he was doing, or rather how he was holding up with the weight of lives on his shoulders, she couldn’t find the words. She was so concerned for her best friend, the man she considered a brother, but had no idea how to start a conversation where she could help him. She had never seen him with bags under his eyes so deep and, although he may not have realized it, she had noticed the smell of liquor on his breath.

 

Instead, she had just thanked him for his thoughtfulness and offered him her couch for the night, an offer he had taken advantage of for a nap. At least until he was called away later that day by the club.

 

It had been over a week since Sakura had last seen Sasuke and the only thing that let her know he was okay was his occasional text demanding that she get some sort of food delivered to her house. Texts intermingled with the occasional invite to the gym by Naruto, an invite to lunch from Ino, and the frequent texts from the object of her affection and confliction, Madara.

 

No matter how hard she tried to bring her attention back to her studies, her thoughts kept getting drawn away to the events of the past month. To her increasingly disharmonious and revealing relationship with Madara.

 

Her relationship with Madara was incredibly satisfying. This was the first time she had ever felt love this deep, this real. This was the first time that she ever felt so loved, so valued, so supported, and so respected. He treated her as his equal and absolutely spoiled her with his affection. He wasn’t afraid to show her how much he loved her by bringing her take out or even homemade meals, sending flowers to her work, surprising her during her lunch break to take her out to eat, spending every moment with her that he could, and being openly and shamelessly affectionate with her in public.

 

(If Sakura was honest with herself, she was just grateful that they hadn’t been caught being so affectionate with one another in public that it had escalated into sex, especially since it seemed to happen so often - on a back road on his motorcycle, at the drive in theater, at the concert…)

 

When they spent time together, more often at her apartment than his house since she had become so busy with her studies, he was unbothered by how she couldn’t always give him her full attention. Instead, he would state that he enjoyed spending time with her as she was and would often sit at her desk and plop her in his lap while she studied. As she worked, he would either cuddle her, dropping his face against her neck and basking in her warmth, or play games or text on his phone. Sometimes he would try to seduce her, something she would often fall for or even instigate herself.

 

It was like the gods had made Madara perfect just for her. He was everything Sakura could ever want in a partner and more. A fact that made it so much more difficult for her to deal with his lifestyle.

 

A lifestyle which made her feel an incredible amount of dissonance that contrasted so sharply with her contentment with him as a lover.

 

The ever growing number of bands inked across Madara’s arms specifically made her feel sick to her stomach. Over the past month and a half, he had had two new rings added in addition to the three she had noticed in the shower. Just the thought that he had actually, truly killed five people in such a short time made her stomach rise into her chest.

 

Was this normal? Was he truly in this much danger every day of his life? Or was this war Sasuke had spoken of getting worse? What would Sasuke’s tally look like now? Was her best friend in danger as well? How could they possibly live with themselves?

 

No matter how gentle and loving Madara was with her, the fact he murdered people with such ease had frightened her. Had left her feeling physically ill. She could hardly believe that it was real, could hardly believe that this war was real and that her lover was an active participant in it.

 

Sakura was a nurse, she was going to become a doctor, a surgeon even. She had dedicated her life to helping people, to saving lives. To know that the man she loved with every fiber of her being was taking lives left her with a feeling of dissonance so powerful it took her breath away.

 

At first, she had been terrified that Madara was some sort of sociopath who killed without remorse. That all of Sasuke’s family members were psychopaths who killed for no reason other than because that was their chosen lifestyle. She was afraid that she had made a horrible mistake in being with Madara, a fear fueled further by her own reputation at picking terrible lovers.

 

As the days went on, and as her and Madara spent more time together, however, Sakura began to notice how his secret life affected him. And as she paid more attention not only to him but to the others, she began to notice how troubled the Uchiha family really was. That Madara, as well as everyone else, wasn’t as unaffected by the life as they outwardly appeared.

 

Sakura began to suspect that a number of Uchihas in the MC, if not all of them, suffered a great deal. Something that had been physically substantiated by a number of behaviors and otherwise now that she had finally paid enough attention to to notice.

 

She had noticed that Obito always had a bottle of pain pills on his person, something he would reach into far more often than would have been prescribed, even with his amputations. She had noticed that Izuna was an alcoholic, a flask or a drink always cradled in his slender hands. A dangerous vice that Sasuke was beginning to pick up himself.

 

She had noticed that Shisui, Itachi, and Izumi were the only ones who had positive coping mechanisms, all tied in with their arts, but knew that if they lost even one member of their trio that the others would fall apart.

 

Sakura was even reminded of the anti-anxiety medication, expired as it was, that still sat in Madara’s medicine cabinet in the exact same place it had been when she had first spotted it the first night she had stayed at his house.

 

She had finally begun to realize how much the Uchiha’s secret life, this secret war, truly damaged them. More than Shisui’s sudden limp, a injury that he refused to speak to her about, and deeper than Sasuke’s increasing standoffishness, a trait that had only grown more pronounced as the days went on.

 

It wasn’t until a night just a few short weeks ago that Sakura finally realized how severely this war had affected her lover specifically. An event that had conversely both frightened and comforted her and one that would remain with her until the day she died.

 

* * *

 

Sakura and Madara sat on the couch in Madara’s house, both of them half way watching an action flick playing on his tv.

 

The past couple weeks that they had spent together had been tense. Neither had spoken of his secret life, the lives he took in this war, since her discovery in the shower. Ever since then, both of them had been walking on eggshells around one another.

 

They both knew that they loved each other more than they had ever known but neither of them knew if it was enough.

 

That past week, however, had been much worse than usual. Madara had been distracted for days and had been acting standoffish. Tonight, it was even more obvious than ever that his thoughts were somewhere else entirely. He was so lost in his inner world that he hadn’t spoken a word to her since he had put on the movie. His arm was draped across her shoulders as it normally was but it felt more like habit than having any affection behind it.

 

Even more than that, Madara kept glancing towards his front door every time a car passed by, an unusual tension never leaving his body.

 

“Madara?” Sakura finally asked, too discomforted to even use her pet name for him as she broke the silence between them for the first time in over an hour.

 

“Hmm?” he answered, glancing over at the door once again as a car passed by.

 

“Do…” she started, pausing for a moment before continuing, “Do you want me to leave?”

 

His gaze finally met hers for the first time in over an hour.

 

“No, of course not,” he answered, perhaps too quickly, before clearing his throat and speaking again, “I know that I have been acting… off lately, but I want you to stay with me.”

 

“What’s wrong? Is it… Does it have something to do with…” Sakura tried, unable to even get the words out.

 

“Yes and no. This week is tough for me every year. It…” he sighed deeply, “It’s the anniversary of a series of events that took place over a decade ago and the memories always come back when this week returns. I would like to keep it at that for now.”

 

Sakura frowned deeply in response to his guarded answer but respected his boundaries nonetheless. “I understand. If you need to talk though… I’m always here.”

 

Madara smiled a half smile in return, his happiness with her offer not quite breaking through the tension in his body as he pulled her closer against him. “Thank you, love.”

 

The silence from before returned once again, both of them quietly watching the movie as they both became lost in their own thoughts. She could tell he still wasn’t quite there with her, lost to some place that she didn’t know of or understand. Knowing that some event had taken place that still troubled him made it easier for her to understand why he was so far away but made it no less concerning.

 

She was almost frightened to know what had happened to trouble him so deeply, considering his active participation in the war between the Uchiha and Senju.

 

When the movie finally finished, the lovers had simply gone to bed early. Neither had much energy and both of them were too lost in their own inner worlds to do much besides fall into bed together. Neither even tried to turn the other on, too distracted by the tension of the day to try for sex.

 

Instead, Sakura had just curled up against him and Madara had wrapped her up in his arms almost too tightly.

 

Normally, Madara slept fairly well. He would wrap himself around her in his sleep, clinging to her like a comfort item, but he would always sleep soundly. That night, however, had been an entirely different story.

 

Sakura woke up with a start, feeling as if she was being suffocated. It took a long moment for her sleep addled mind to understand that Madara’s arms had tightened around her like a vice, his strong arms so tight around her that her cheek was flattened against his chest and her arms were pinned between their bodies.

 

His caging grip was desperate, as if his arms were the only thing keeping him from losing her. One of his hands dug into her hip so tightly that his fingertips stung and the other gripped her shoulder so roughly that she knew the skin beneath his fingers was bleached white.

 

Madara’s voice may have been quiet and strained, and his racing heartbeat may have been fast and loud against her ear, but his words were as clear to her as if he had yelled them to her. While the names he muttered against the crown of her head were spoken so softly that they may as well have been silence, Sakura could never mistake even their whispers.

 

The names of Madara’s dead brothers.

 

“-Shisa… so sorry, Kumo. Oshika, wait, don't...”

 

Sakura’s heart dropped into her stomach at his near silent cries.

 

“Dara,” she tried, trying to pull away from him only for his arms to wrap around her tighter. His hands held her even harder, his vice like grip on her hip and shoulder beginning to hurt.

 

“Dara,” she tried again, this time louder. He didn't respond.

 

Sakura pulled out of Madara’s too tight embrace just enough to release one of her hands. She tried to shake his shoulder but found he was holding her too tightly for her shaking to affect him.

 

“Dara!” she yelled this time, roughly patting him on the back in a desperate attempt to wake him from his nightmare.

 

Madara finally jolted awake with a gasp for air, his grip immediately loosening as he returned to consciousness.

 

“Sakura?” he asked after he finally returned to himself, drawing a sigh of relief from her.

 

When Madara realized how hard his hands were gripping her, he released her immediately.

 

“I… Damnit…” he muttered, tentatively brushing her skin where he had been gripping her so roughly, “I’m sorry…”

 

“It’s okay… It’s okay,” Sakura comforted, finally relaxing once again now that her partner had awoken from his nightmare.

 

She took a deep breath to will her pounding heart to calm as she settled back against her lover’s chest. She slowly wrapped her arms around him once again, wanting to show him without words that she loved him and was there for him, despite his nightmare having frightened her as well.

 

It felt unreal, hearing Madara’s muttered cries as he whispered the names of his dead brothers. She could hardly imagine how painful his nightmare must have been for him to express such sorrow in the waking world. She had experienced her boys sleep talking before but it had never been like this...

 

Sakura realized that the series of events Madara had spoken of earlier that day must have something to do with the deaths of his loved ones but refused to push him by asking about it.

 

The Uchiha’s entire body was as taut as a bowstring, every muscle beneath her hands wrought with tension. Even as he hesitantly returned her embrace, as if concerned if he was even allowed to, his body was strained. He didn’t relax even as she started to card her fingers through his wild mane of hair in an attempt to bring him back to her and away from the dark place he had just emerged from.

 

“I…” Madara started quietly, his breath warm against the crown of her head, before going silent and taking a deep breath.

 

“I have done a great many atrocious things in my life…” he tried again before pausing for a long moment.

 

Sakura stopped in her finger combing of his hair to give him her full attention even as her heart began to race in her chest.

 

“Even though I did everything, do everything, for the sake of my family... sometimes it only hurts those I love,” he explained in a low tone, his quiet voice and her slowly quickening breaths being the only things to fill the silence of his darkened bedroom, “Especially when I do something for the sake of revenge.”

 

Madara paused once again, as if hoping that Sakura would stop him from continuing. Instead, she listened even more intently, even though she suddenly felt as if she were standing on the edge of a cliff. As if she was in the heart stopping moment before being delivered some terrible news. As if she were on the precipice of something great and horrible and that, if she didn’t turn back, she would never be able to.

 

Whatever he had to say, Sakura knew that she needed to hear it.

 

When Madara finally spoke, his words stole the breath from her lungs. “I killed the Senju who killed my parents. The brother of this man came to my home, searching for me, and instead killed two of my brothers.”

 

Sakura’s entire body tensed as a dark wave washed through her. It felt like when she had been underwater for too long and wasn’t sure if she would reach the surface in time. A distinctive panic as she found herself suddenly unable to breathe.

 

Not only had her lover just openly admitted to her that he had murdered the man who killed his own parents but that the murder of this man lead to the homicides of two of his six brothers. To have the unspoken knowledge that he had killed people was one thing, something she could almost ignore, but to hear him openly confess to her that he had murdered someone was entirely different.

 

When Madara continued to speak, Sakura wasn’t sure that she was ready to hear what he had to say anymore.

 

“He pulled up outside of my house while we were mourning. Shot my brother Kuma who was outside smoking a cigarette. He kicked down my front door and was able to pull off two rounds before I shot and killed him. One hit my brother Shisa, who was standing right next to me... The other went through my arm.”

 

Where the scar had come from...

 

“I survived but both Kuma and Shisa died that night, right in front of me, Izuna, Oshika, and Fugaku. Two of our brothers were killed not even a few days after both of our parents had been murdered… Oshika, he… couldn’t handle it and hung himself out in the woods a year later.”

 

Sakura’s mouth popped open as if to speak but no words came out. She had no idea what to say in the face of his confession, her heart warring with itself. She was horrified by Madara’s actions, by the fact he had killed a person, people. She was heartbroken to hear how he had suffered so much. How he had lost his parents and two of his siblings in less than a week because of the war with the Senju MC. How he had to live through one of his brothers committing suicide on the anniversary of the deaths of his brothers and parents.

 

And, beneath it all, she was astounded by how much he trusted her to admit such a thing to her.

 

What did someone say to that? What could she even say to that?

 

“Gods, you deserve more than this… More than a person like me…” he muttered into her hairline before nuzzling the top of her head.

 

Madara’s arms were loose around her, as if he were prepared for her to pull away from him. His embrace was so tentative that it felt as if he was already saying goodbye.

 

Sakura was quiet for a long time as she absorbed the dark secrets he had just revealed to her, the tension within him growing tighter as the silence between them grew longer.

 

She tried to process what he had told her. The deeply held secrets that she had known but had never heard. The story of deaths of loved ones that tore at her heart. The tale of carnage and tragedy that left her feeling at odds with herself.

 

When she pulled away from him, Madara’s arms slid away from her, allowing her to exit his embrace. She sat up on her elbows, gazing at her lover in the darkness of his bedroom, the only light being from the streetlights filtering in through his blinds.

 

Even in the dimness in his room, she could see the sorrow etched onto her lover’s face. Anguish from not just the anniversary of the deaths of so many people he loved but heartache from her pulling away.

 

Sakura was reminded once again of a realization she had made months ago, an understanding she had wavered on so many times that she was always ashamed to return to it once again. Ever since she had discovered the meaning behind his tattoos, a part of her had been frightened. Frightened that he was some sort of madman, some sort of remorseless killer who lived the life he did for the fun of it.

 

But after her observations over the past month, realizing he suffered for what he did… Now that he had shown her how much he trusted her by finally giving her a piece of the truth that she so desperately needed… Now that she stared into his eyes in the blackness of his bedroom and saw how deeply he anguished over the loss of his loved ones…

 

Sakura realized once again that Madara was a man and not a monster.

 

When she leaned over him to press a gentle kiss to his lips, Madara stared up at her in shock and confusion.

 

“Thank you for telling me… I still… I don’t understand your life or your family or this war and… and a lot of it scares me. Scares me because I’m terrified of losing you or Sasuke or any of my friends. But I know I love you. I love you and I’m here,” she asserted softly, looking into his eyes, before settling down on top of him and pressing her cheek to his chest.

 

Even through his clothes, Sakura could feel how his heart raced.

 

“Why?” Madara finally asked, his tone one of disbelief and barely withheld emotion, “Why does a woman like you love a man like me?”

 

She took a few heartbeats to respond but, when she did, she spoke from the heart. “Because I don’t think you’re the monster you see yourself as.”

 

At hearing her declaration, something within him gave in. He wrapped his arms around her tightly, one hand burying into her hair, as he held her as closely as he could. He buried his nose into her hair as her arms looped around his neck, her lover holding her as close to him as he could.

 

“I love you so much… And I...” Madara paused for a long moment, considering his words, before he spoke with a forlornness she had never heard in his voice before, “I’m trying to make it all stop. I just don’t know how.”

 

Sakura held him tighter, unable to find the words to reply. She felt as heat built behind her eyes and as her lungs fluttered with the ragged breath she dragged into her lungs.

 

She wasn’t sure if any words had ever brought her such a sense of relief in her life.

 

* * *

 

Sakura chewed on the cap of her pen, her gaze unfocused as she stared down at the notes on her desk.

 

The fact that Madara was actually affected by the things he did both comforted her and made her feel ashamed of herself. Part of her felt that he should feel something for what he did. The other part of her felt ashamed. Ashamed that she was actually happy that he suffered.

 

She had realized that she wasn’t happy that he suffered but was instead happy that he wasn’t an unfeeling monster. That he was human and trapped in a war that he had no idea how to stop rather than an animal reveling as he pushed a war onward.

 

Sakura knew how much it must have taken to reveal something like that to her. How much Madara trusted her to admit what he had done, to talk about something that still destroyed him on the inside despite years having passed. To tell her how he had taken revenge on the person who killed his parents and how he bore the weight of the deaths of three of his brothers because he had given into his desire for retribution.

 

Despite this, despite the fact that he showed remorse for some of the things he had done that had resulted in the deaths of his loved ones and despite him saying that he was trying to put an end to it all, she still didn’t feel as if she completely knew who he was. She knew she loved him for who he was beyond what he did but she still had questions that needed answers. Questions that she wasn’t sure she should even ask but knew that she needed to. Questions she wasn’t even sure how to ask.

 

She knew in her heart that he wasn’t a monster. That he was more than just his past, more than a man in a war that had no right to exist in the first place. Even with these realizations, even with her knowing her lover wasn’t a psychopath, she still felt a sense of unease around him.

 

It wasn’t until just a few short weeks ago, when she lived through one of the darkest days of her life, that she finally broke past this unconsciously building unease with her lover.

 

It wasn’t until Sakura felt as if her heart was being torn from her chest that she realized he was a man unlike any she had ever met. It wasn’t until she felt as if she wanted to die that Madara had proved to her that he truly loved her and that he was there for her.

 

* * *

 

Sakura finally returned home to her cold, quiet, dark apartment well passed the time her twelve hour shift at the hospital had finished. The second she closed her front door, she sagged back against the wood, boneless and deeply exhausted.

 

She felt broken inside. She felt out of control. She felt like she would fall apart at the seams at any moment, as if the only thing holding her together was her filthy, blood splattered scrubs.

 

She wanted to fall to her knees and curl up into a ball on the floor. She wished that the world would stop spinning, that the clock in her living room would stop ticking, that her own heart would stop it’s thunderous beating, that everything could just stop for just one minute so she could stop feeling this agony in her heart.

 

The sound of her phone vibrating roared in her ears, the sound grating on whatever was left within her. She weakly fished out her phone from the pocket of her stained scrubs, emotionlessly gazing down at the caller ID photo of her boyfriend. Even the candid picture she had taken of him fast asleep on her couch did nothing to improve her mood.

 

Sakura answered the call and, when she spoke, she felt as if it wasn’t even her speaking. As if she were outside of her own body.

 

“Hey…” she greeted weakly, clearing her throat as she finally pushed off of her front door.

 

She dropped her purse onto the floor in front of her couch, uncaring, as she forced her legs to take her farther into her home.

 

“Hello, my little hellcat. How was your day at work?” Madara’s warm voice replied on the other side of the line.

 

Sakura thought about her answer for a long moment. Her day was the worst she had ever had. She felt like she wanted to stop breathing. She had never felt more useless, more meaningless, or more ashamed in her life.

 

The only thing she was able to choke out was a broken, “Fine.”

 

“Are you okay?” Madara asked seriously, his tone changing from warm and light to concerned.

 

“I’m fine, I just… I lost a patient today and I-” Sakura started to explain before her voice failed her.

 

She could no longer hold back the tears, her face burning and her throat tight. She dragged a desperate breath into her lungs in a useless attempt to hold back her tears but her efforts were all in vain. Hot tears poured down her face, her free hand trembling as she reached up to brush them away.

 

“Sakura?” he called out, worry coloring his voice.

 

“I’m fine, it-” she tried, her voice high pitched and weak as she tried to force out what she wanted to say through her tears. No matter how hard she willed it, she couldn’t get the words out passed the lump building in her throat.

 

She wished that her tears would just stop along with everything else.

 

“It’s okay, I just-“ Sakura tried again, hardly able to speak at all as she took in a stuttering gasp of air only to release an unwilling cry.

 

“I’ll be right there,” Madara declared with a sudden determination as she tried to hide her sobs from the microphone of her cell phone.

 

“No, no, I’m fine, I...” she whimpered, her legs shaking under the strain of just holding her upright.

 

“Five minutes,” he stated firmly before softly adding, “I love you.”

 

When her phone beeped, indicating that the call had ended, she let her phone slip out of her hands and fall to the floor. She brought her hands to her face as she finally began to cry in earnest, tears streaming down her cheeks as she dropped to the floor as well.

 

It felt like only a heartbeat had passed when knocking sounded at her door. Sakura struggled to her feet, abandoning her phone on the floor as she dragged herself to her own front door. She wiped her face off on the long sleeve of her undershirt, ignoring the dried blood on her once pristine uniform.

 

Opening the door weakly, she was met with the concerned face of her lover. When her eyes met his onyx orbs, she could not hold back her sob, instead trying to hide it behind her hand. She dropped her face as her tears returned tenfold, her not wanting him to see her like this.

 

Madara wrapped himself around her in an instant, his arms tightly closing around her as she fell against his chest. Even though his clothes were cold from the ride over, his body was warm beneath them. He didn’t say a word, instead holding her securely as she deflated in his arms. Her weak legs trembled beneath her and, when she sunk to the floor once again, he followed.

 

He pulled her into his lap and enfolded her in his strong arms as she cried in earnest. He held her against his chest, not caring about the blood and filth covering her scrubs or the tears soaking into the front of his shirt. One of his hands cradled the back of her head as she bawled, finally releasing her anguish.

 

Sakura had never felt so small. Not when she was taunted as a child and had no confidence in herself, not when that girl dragged her around by her hair and she thought she was too weak to save her friends, and not when she watched over Naruto in that hospital bed and wondered if he would still remember her when he woke up.

 

But among all of the terrible feelings ripping through her body, the shame, the feeling of weakness, the feeling of uselessness, the fear, the anguish… She felt an incredible sense of love and support.

 

The scent of Madara’s leather cut and his woodsy cologne felt like she had finally come home even though she was already in her apartment. The feeling of his arms wrapped around her felt like the only thing keeping her from falling apart. The sound of his breathing and the sound of his heartbeat, in between her own sobs, was like a melody to soothe her own breaking heart.

 

“I-I’m covered in blood…” she whimpered against his chest, unable to come up with much else to say.

 

“You’re more important,” he stated simply, drawing another weak cry from her burning lungs.

 

With a suddenness faster than pain when one touched a hot iron, shame washed over her. She quickly pulled away, wiping her cheeks and her nose off on her sleeves.

 

Sakura had never been this vulnerable with a lover. She had never been able to be this vulnerable with her domineering parents. She had never even been this vulnerable with Naruto and Sasuke.

 

She hadn’t been this weak in front of someone since she bawled under the taunting of those young girls, since she cried under the assault of that girl from Oto, since she sobbed over Naruto’s hospital bed. The feeling of being so weak in front of someone after putting up such a strong front for so long made her want to run away.

 

“Gods, I’m so gross right now, I need to-I need a shower or something, I’m gunna go-” Sakura desperately tried to excuse, pulling out of his embrace.

 

Instead, Madara held her tighter, whispering against her hair, “Don’t run away, Sakura. I’m right here for you. I love you and I’m not abandoning you.”

 

Her hands trembled as they held onto his arms desperately, her body frozen in her attempt to escape. His words made her blubbering start once again, her lip trembling as tears fell down her cheeks in scalding streaks. When he gently pulled her back into his arms, she fell back against him.

 

When Sakura finally felt as if she was able to speak without her bawling stealing away her words, she tried to explain what had happened.

 

“I’ve never lost a child before… There was a car accident. The mother and her daughter died on impact but her boy… There was so much blood and-and before we could even get him to the surgical suite, h-he-” she cried before another wave of tears stopped her words.

 

She curled up into a tighter ball in his arms, pressing her face into his chest to hide her tears.

 

“He died in my arms, Dara... He was crying, asking for his mom, and I-I held him and watched him stop breathing a-and-!” she sobbed desperately, his fingers threading into her hair as he held her tighter.

 

“I’m so sorry, darling,” Madara muttered against her hair.

 

“It feels like it’s my fault. Like I could have done something different or I-” Sakura started, her hands fisting in his shirt as she finally admitted the source of her shame.

 

Madara pulled back to look into her eyes, his broad hands coming up to cradle her wet cheeks.

 

“It is absolutely not your fault. You are the most skilled, kind, and knowledgeable nurse I’ve ever met. If he died, there was nothing that could have been done,” he asserted gently, his thumbs sweeping across her cheeks and wiping away the tear tracks.

 

“But I could have-” she tried shakily, another tear slipping free and dripping across the fingers that cradled her cheek.

 

“This is not your fault. I know that you did everything you could, that that boy was in the best hands in the world. He’s lucky he had someone who truly cared to hold him as he passed,” he continued, once again repeating, “This was not your fault.”

 

Sakura sniffled, dropping her head to hide her red, snot streaked face from him. She pressed herself back against his chest, curling up against him as his arms looped around her once again.

 

They were both silent for a long few minutes, the only sound being her occasional sniffle and embarrassing mouth breathing as she finally began to calm down.

 

“I covered you in snot…” she muttered against his chest.

 

Madara huffed out a soft laugh and shook his head before resting his cheek on the crown of her head, “That’s alright.”

 

“What did I do to deserve a man like you?” Sakura finally asked, her words candid as her heart stood ripped open.

 

He smiled against her hair. “A goddess like you deserves more than a man like me could ever provide but I’ll try my best to satisfy you how I am able.”

 

Sakura sniffled hard, her eyes burning at Madara’s confession.

 

“Damnit, you’re going to get me started again.”

 

* * *

 

Sakura had never felt more conflicted in all her years. She had no idea what to do. She had never loved a man like she loved Madara. She had never felt more happy, more respected, or more adored than when she was with him.

 

He had told her that he was trying to put an end to the war he was in but what if it never did end? He obviously still fought in the battles between the clubs so what could he be doing to end it? And what if he was able to end this war? He had still done horrible things in his past. His body was covered in gravestones.

 

When Sakura thought of leaving him, her heart clenched in her chest so tightly that it hurt to breathe. She knew that she would never be able to stop loving him. She knew that she had fallen for him with every piece of her heart and knew that, even if they were separated, that would never change.

 

When she thought of staying with him, she was terrified that she would be making the wrong decision. She was frightened that the war would never end.

 

She was terrified that one day she would be forced to watch him die.

 

Sakura shook off these thoughts in an attempt to focus on her studies once again. She had no time for these concerns, having shoved them all into the back of her mind to make room for more important issues. Her entire life hinged on these next tests and she needed to be prepared more than she needed to feel comforted.

 

She tried to take a sip from her luke warm coffee to fight the hunger pangs clawing at her insides but gave up when she couldn’t remember which of the dozen cups on her desk was the newest. Sighing deeply, she decided that she would just eat another protein bar and start another pot of coffee when she finished this section.

 

Not even a sentence into the newest section, she was startled by a knock at her door.

 

She didn’t remember ordering any food…

 

Sakura fished out her phone from beneath the mounds of papers and, when she pressed the home button, she discovered it was dead. She sighed once again as she stood, cracking her back from top to bottom as she stretched out for the first time in hours. She trudged over to her front door, cracking her knees and toes as she went, and checked the peephole in her front door.

 

She was shocked to see Madara on the other side and immediately opened her door to greet him. She thought she caught traces of a concerned expression on his face before it disappeared as a warm smile spread across his lips. Her own concerns were quickly assuaged when she smelt the delicious smelling bag of take out hanging from his hand.

 

“Looking beautiful as always,” he greeted with a teasing smirk.

 

She glared up at him. “Oh shut up, you.”

 

“I love you to,” he replied, leaning down to peck her on the lips as he let himself in.

 

“What are you doing here?” Sakura asked, perhaps too bluntly from a lack of sleep, as she closed and locked the door behind him.

 

“I came to check up on you. Make sure you’ve eaten, bathed, slept…” Madara’s eyes flicked across her form, the teasing smirk tugging at the corner of his lips saying ‘looks like none of those things have happened’.

 

“I can take care of myself just fine, jerk!” she yelled, point an accusing finger at her lover.

 

“I know you can. But I also know that, when you get into your dedicated moods, you forget to,” he explained sweetly, just smiling in the face of her anger.

 

“I’m fine. I’m just busy with studying for the next part of my exams,” she huffed in response, crossing her arms across her chest.

 

“Mhmm. Then when was the last time you ate?”

 

“I ate this mor… Er… I ate, uh… Does coffee count?”

 

Madara huffed out a laugh as he dropped the bag of take out onto her living room table. “Aren’t you supposed to be the doctor here? You know that not eating is just going to hurt your studies.”

 

“Yeah, yeah,” she grumbled, her stomach grumbling louder as he began unpacking styrofoam containers filled with food.

 

She didn’t recognize the name on the side of the bag but she easily recognized the tantalizing scent of sushi wafting out of the boxes.

 

“Now go take a shower while I set these up.”

 

“But I need to keep studying! I’m not even half way through the chapters on endocrine disorders and I still need to study the oncology chapters before the end of the night…”

 

“You aced the last test involving oncology and, just a month ago, you spent _an hour_ lecturing Inabi about his diabetes and how he needed to adjust his diet or he’d have a hypoglycemic attack. You then went on to yell at Kagami for not keeping a stock of glucagon behind the bar and, when he asked what that even was, you continued for another half hour,” Madara teased, laughing, “You can take a break to take a shower and eat something.”

 

“I… You’re not going to let me get away with studying, are you?” Sakura groaned, slumping her shoulders as she pouted at him.

 

“Absolutely not. Every coffee cup you own is sitting on your desk right now. You haven’t left that chair in days, have you?” he questioned, quirking an eyebrow at her.

 

“I… maybe to pee,” she admitted, glancing off to the side.

 

Madara snorted in amusement as he returned to his task. “Get in the shower, love. Food will be ready when you get out.”

 

Sakura sighed deeply, turning around and trudging into her bedroom. She gathered up a change on comfortable clothes, this time making sure that they matched, before closing herself in her bathroom. She spun the knobs to her shower and, as the water heating up, stripped off her coffee stained pajamas. When she finally hopped into the shower and the hot water hit her chest, she groaned aloud in pleasure.

 

The tension in her body immediately drained out of her as she dunked her head into the hot spray and finally relaxed for the first time in days.

 

When Sakura emerged from her bathroom, feeling like a new person, the food was laid out across her living room table (he had even gotten her her favorite dessert: anmitsu) and Madara was flipping through her DVR looking for something to watch.

 

He smiled up at her as she approached, lifting his arm so she could settle into her spot against his chest. A spot she readily fell into and quickly became comfortable in.

 

* * *

 

It was Sakura’s turn to fall asleep early this time, her quickly nodding off in his arms after stuffing herself on sushi and sweets.

 

She only woke up briefly when he carried her to her bedroom and tucked her into bed. She opened her eyes for a moment only to close them when when she caught sight of the new rings inked around Madara’s arm as he changed into his fish print pajama pants.

 

Her thoughts from before returned with an intensity, her heart suddenly racing in her chest. She tried to think of how he had come to take care of her, to make sure she ate, bathed, and slept. That he had brought her take out and gotten her her favorite food. That he had made her take a break with him so she could finally recover. That he was going to stay the night and wasn’t going to press for sex because he loved her.

 

Sakura focused on the fact that he told her he was trying to end the war, that he wanted it to stop, that he suffered for what he had done, that _he wasn’t a monster_.

 

It was her exhaustion that allowed her to finally fall into a fitful sleep, her dreams a frightening mess of bloody hands and bloodier fields.

 

She wasn’t sure if she was dreaming or not, but she could remember the sound of Madara’s low voice in her ear. Him telling her that he loved her, that he would never allow anyone to hurt her, how he was sorry, and how he didn’t want her to be scared.

 

Whether she was dreaming or not, it was the sound of his voice and the feeling of his fingertips brushing through her hair that finally allowed her to fall into a restful, dreamless sleep.

 

* * *

 

Sakura woke up at noon to an empty bed.

 

She had never felt more rested in her life and, when she spotted the clock on her bedside table and noticed what time it was, she realized why. She had no idea that she had needed to sleep so much.

 

She spotted her cell phone on her nightstand but didn’t remember plugging it in. She realized that Madara must have put it on the charger for her and smiled at his thoughtfulness.

 

She unhooked her phone as she crawled out of bed and headed towards her bathroom, stretching out as she went. She dropped her phone on her bathroom counter as she relieved herself, brushing her teeth and cleaning up afterwards.

 

Sakura grabbed her cellphone as she made her way out into her kitchen, holding down the power button to switch the device back on. She knew it would take a few minutes before her phone actually connected to her wifi and her provider and paid it little mind as she waited.

 

As she passed through her hallway, she noticed the closet which contained her compact washer and dryer was open. Peering inside of her closet, she spotted her laundry basket sitting in front of her dryer. She popped open the dryer door and smiled when she saw it was full of freshly cleaned clothes, including Madara’s pajamas from the night before.

 

She turned the knob on the dryer and let it run to smooth out any wrinkles in the clothes, smiling widely at her lover’s continued thoughtfulness.

 

As she entered her kitchen and passed by her desk, noticing his next surprise for her, she was once again moved by the kindness of her boyfriend.

 

Her desk was cleared of all the dirty coffee cups, dishes, and garbage although none of her papers or study materials had been touched. She checked her cabinets and found everything had been washed and put away. Not only that, but when she went to start a fresh pot of coffee, she found everything clean and ready to go and her favorite mug already sitting in the tray.

 

Sakura felt so touched by all of the little, thoughtful things Madara had done for her that morning while she had been getting her first good night’s sleep in weeks. She couldn’t shake the smile from her face, her grin only widening when she noticed a note, written on the back on an envelope in her partner’s neat handwriting, tucked underneath the edge of her coffee maker.

 

‘ _I didn’t want to wake you when I left since you needed the sleep so much. Club business. Your fridge is empty so there’s a shipment of groceries being delivered to your apartment at 4. I figured you’d be awake by then. I’ll be back tomorrow to make sure you’re still eating. I love you_ ’

 

Sakura smiled, running her thumb across the paper.

 

Her phone pinged a dozen times in a row as it finally connected to her provider, different noises indicating different messages that had been left behind for her. She checked her phone and was shocked by the sheer number of emails, missed calls, and texts she had waiting for her.

 

She opened her texts first, spotting the familiar names of Naruto, Sasuke, and Madara.

 

The dozen texts from Naruto from the day before yesterday was predictable to her, even though anyone else would be confused by the string of emojis and nothing more. Sasuke’s single text shortly after was the more coherent of the two even though both of their messages were the same invitation to eat at Naruto’s favorite ramen shop that night.

 

The last of Sakura’s messages were three texts from Madara over the course of the previous day, ones that made her realize how long she had been sitting at her desk studying and how long her phone had been dead without her realizing.

 

‘ _Good morning, hellcat_. _Are you busy today?_ ’

 

‘ _A new sushi restaurant opened up downtown and Izumi had obscene things to say about their anmitsu. Have you had lunch yet?_ ’

 

‘ _I know you’re studying, but you do still have to eat. Did you lose your phone in your papers again?_ ’

 

Sakura switched from her texts to her phone app and noticed a missed call from Naruto, one from Madara, and one from the last person she wanted to hear from at that moment.

 

She tapped on Naruto’s name and put her phone on speaker as she started her pot of coffee.

 

Naruto’s loud voice boomed out of her speaker and she had to turn down her volume a couple notches just to listen.

 

‘ _Hey, you’re really missing out, Sakura! They started making that ramen you really liked agaaain. You better come out of your dungeon soon, I haven’t seen you in forever! You’ve missed all of our workout sessions for the past two weeks! Call me back! Oh, and asshole says hi._ ’

 

Sakura heard Sasuke start to yell something explicit in the background of the message before Naruto hung up, drawing a laugh from her.

 

She tapped on her lover’s name and the sound of his soothing baritone echoed out of her phone at a much more reasonable volume.

 

‘ _Hey, hellcat, I haven’t been able to get ahold of you all day and now your phone is dead. I’m coming over with food since I get the feeling you haven’t eaten or slept for a couple days. I love you. See you soon._ ’

 

Despite the voicemail being so innocuous, she couldn’t help but notice the thread of concern in Madara’s voice.

 

As Sakura stood in her kitchen, looking at her clean desk and listening to the whirl of her dryer, she felt overwhelmed by his love for her.

 

The fact he had been so concerned for her well being that he had surprised her with dinner when he went to check up on her. That he cared about her so much that he had helped her with her laundry and even done her dishes as she slept. That he loved her so much that he had a shipment of groceries being sent to her apartment just so he was sure she would have something to eat.

 

Her satisfaction was quickly dampened when she looked down at her phone and once again noticed the final voicemail waiting for her. The message she was hesitant to even open.

 

Sighing deeply, and deciding it was best just to get it over with, much like ripping off a band aid, Sakura tapped on the final voicemail. There was a brief pause before a feminine voice with a thick accent began playing through her speaker.

 

‘ _Good morning, Sakura! Y_ _ou haven’t called or visited your loving mother and father in months! How are you, are you a doctor yet? Oh, quite a funny story, one of my coworkers told me that they saw you on the back of one of those depraved Uchiha MC’s bikes. Funny, hm? Call me back!_ ’

 

Sakura sighed as she removed her fresh cup of coffee from her coffee maker, the feeling of satisfaction abating a little bit from the voicemail that had been left behind by her mother.

 

As if she didn’t have enough to worry about.

 

 


	12. Obito

Obito wasn’t a man who was easily surprised. More than that, he was a difficult man to impress.

 

He had lived what felt like a dozen lifetimes, despite still being young by most accounts. He felt as if the easily swayed, warmhearted boy he had once been was a distant memory. He had seen the best and the worst of what mankind had to offer and had even found himself on both sides of those polar opposite stations more times than he could count.

 

As such, Obito was difficult to surprise and nearly impossible to impress.

 

There was only one thing that had both surprised and impressed him over the past half year and that had, shockingly enough, been the newest “addition” to the Uchiha family: Sakura Haruno.

 

Obito remembered the first moment that he had seen Sakura, walking into The Dead End with the towering blond Uzumaki in tow. He had thought little of her at first, not thinking of her as a threat so much as an interloper. He had thought that she had no place being around his family, an opinion that had drastically changed when she surprised him by throwing herself into the bar brawl not even a half hour later.

 

He had been impressed at how she had protected Sasuke from men twice her size, not only doing so without hesitation but with wild success. She had caught Obito’s attention then and, every time he had seen her thereafter, he had found himself further impressed and even more surprised by the unusual pink haired woman.

 

Obito had first been surprised by how the woman had so easily stolen the heart of the man he considered to be not only a brother but a mentor. Madara had taken Obito under his wing after the car accident that had taken his arm, his leg, his eye, and the love of his life. Madara had helped mold him into the man he was today instead of the tragedy he would have become on his own.

 

The younger Uchiha had the utmost respect for his president and his closest companion and, as such, was very familiar with how difficult it was for anyone to get close to the eldest Uchiha’s guarded heart, especially women.

 

When Obito was still just a gangling teenager lurking around the clubhouse, Madara and Izuna had been the lookers of the club. The women who hung around the clubhouse would fawn over the two and neither man had to look far to find a bed partner. Izuna, being the smooth talker and being less rough around the edges, had always been the more sought after of the two. Although this didn’t reflect a lack of attention on the elder of the two brothers as Madara’s wild and warrior-like nature drew in a certain breed of women.

 

Izuna, even all these decades later, still sated himself by sleeping with whichever woman or women he chose to sweet talk into his bed for the night. Madara, however, had quickly found himself bored of the emotionless seductions. He had searched for an old lady among the crowds of hangarounds and found himself in poor company, always finding rejection, misuse, and betrayal in the women he had tried to find love in.

 

The eldest Uchiha had had a number of old ladies over the years although some could hardly be considered such with how short a duration they stuck around. The man had a terrible choice in women and Obito watched as this trend continued for years, leaving Madara dissatisfied and distrustful.

 

At least until Sakura came along.

 

To see Sakura so effortlessly make herself at home in Madara’s guarded heart hadn’t just surprised Obito, it had shocked him. He had wondered if his president had just been acting overzealous. If he had been overly excited that such a young and beautiful woman had taken a fancy to him, that a woman who didn’t seem to care about his position of power had come into his life, or if he had just been lonely.

 

Either way, it had made Obito pay even closer attention to the young woman who had placed herself in the Uchiha family with such ease it had been as if she was just returning to a seat that had been saved for her.

 

Obito had been impressed when he heard the tale of how Sakura had knocked her attacker unconscious in the mosh pit at the Sound Four concert. How her and Madara had been the perfect battle couple, blowing away every patched in member of the club who had witnessed them brawl. How, shortly after they had won their fights and shortly after one of their cousins had taken the picture of them that hung in the clubhouse, they had disappeared together.

 

While Obito was less than interested in what they had done after running off, he was intrigued by how she had chosen to defend herself instead of waiting to be rescued.

 

When he had finally met Sakura face to face, the sergeant at arms had expected her to treat him the same as everyone else outside of the club did: with distrust, unease, fear, or pity.

 

He had been surprised, once again, when instead she had struck up a casual conversation with him about the MMA match on the tv in front of them. How those were her friends on screen and how she had spent her entire life growing up with some of them. How she had heard he practiced martial arts as well and her asking which style he preferred. She hadn’t shown an ounce of fear, despite his reputation and intimidating outward appearance, instead extending a friendly invitation to conversation.

 

The scarred Uchiha could count on his one hand how many times someone had treated him like a person, and not like a monster or an invalid, after the accident. After months of distrustful curiosity, he had taken a liking to her.

 

Obito had since then been impressed by a number of Sakura’s other traits: her intelligence, her wit, her unwillingness to be walked on, her kindness, her vast medical knowledge, her training in the martial arts, and even how easily she had won over every member of his jaded and distrustful family. But, even more recently, he had been impressed by Sakura graduating medical school.

 

More than anything, Obito was glad that she was finally through with her “study binge” as Madara had called it. The eldest Uchiha had been a _menace_ to be around when he hadn’t seen his old lady in more than a few days. The man had turned listless yet conversely overflowed with a directionless energy. The spars they had had during those days had felt more like a punishment than anything else. Having his president back to normal was a relief for not only Obito but for the other victims of Madara’s excess energy.

 

When the club had first received the news that Sakura had passed her exams and now held the title of Dr. Haruno, it had been a unanimous decision to throw her a party at the clubhouse to celebrate.

 

A party where everyone had gotten far too drunk, where everyone had gotten her little gifts in congratulations (something that had thoroughly embarrassed the woman of honor), and where Sakura had inevitably been spirited away to the back rooms by the club’s absolutely smitten president. Despite neither Madara nor the woman of honor having made a reappearance for the rest of the night, the party raged on until the sun was high in the sky and people finally began to find sleep in the various corners and crevices of the clubhouse like drowsy kittens searching for places to nap.

 

Obito was happy for Sakura. He was impressed with her achievements and he would even go as far as to say that he was proud of her accomplishments, in the way that one acquaintance was for another.

 

He knew that, if she chose to stay with Madara for the long haul, that he would gladly accept her as an equal in his family. She obviously made the man he respected more than any on this earth happy and if there was one thing that his president deserved it was a slice of happiness.

 

On a more realistic level, he hoped Sakura would use her skills as a doctor to help in their war with the Senju. Her skill would be incredibly useful for saving the lives of Uchiha who would die without her medical care. Although he saw little chance of that happening in the future with how soft a nature she had, even if she was smitten with his mentor. It would be a decision that she would have to make on her own since no one would go as far as to press her for her help.

 

Even though she did not offer herself to the club as their doctor to help in their war, this fact had little effect on how Madara felt for her and even less effect over his concern for her working at the hospital underneath Dr. Tsunade Senju, the cousin of Hashirama and Tobirama Senju. A concern which fueled the meeting that Obito sat in now, perched in his chair at the round table in the officer’s meeting room in the clubhouse.

 

“Tsunade has maintained her stance on neutrality, without fail, for the past twenty years. The hospital has always been a safe place for as long as I can remember, she makes sure of that. I highly doubt that Sakura will be in any danger, just like she wasn’t for the duration of her clinicals,” Itachi explained from his seat at the round table across from Obito.

 

“That was different. Sakura had only just become Madara’s old lady. I doubt the Senju are fully aware of her connection to the club yet and that was the only reason she wasn’t bothered,” Izuna argued, arms crossed angrily as he scowled at Itachi, “Don’t forget, Tsunade is still a Senju whether she wears the patch or not.”

 

Obito sighed silently, already exhausted by the circular argument that had been droning on for the past half hour. The argument over Sakura’s safety as she began her residency under her chosen physician, Dr. Senju.

 

The club had been aware that Sakura had spent a brief period of time during her clinicals for medical school studying under the Senju. They were aware of her history with the woman, how the blonde had inspired Sakura to become a doctor after treating her, Naruto, and Sasuke following an attack when they were children. They were even aware of how Sakura had wanted her residency to be supervised by the Senju and how the new doctor would not be swayed even if she was dating the president of the Uchiha MC.

 

Tsunade was famous for her medical prowess and was a surgeon that any doctor worth their salt would do anything to study under. Not only was she famous for the miracles she performed in the operating room but she was even more famous for her reputation. She was a woman with an explosive temper, not unlike Sakura herself, who refused to be cowed by any organization in the city, including the MC her very own family operated.

 

Tsunade was not only the most renown doctor in the country, a surgeon who had saved thousands of lives in her career, but she was also the director of Konoha Regional Hospital. Tsunade ran her hospital with an iron fist and, when she had first ascended into power, she had laid down one unbreakable rule for every soul who entered her domain. A rule especially relevant to those who were a part of clubs or other organizations in the city. When you entered her hospital, you entered as an individual. You left behind your last name and, more importantly, you ignored those of others.

 

Tsunade’s hospital was a place of healing and neutral ground. Everyone respected the brilliant blonde and nearly everyone had a family member who had been saved by her very own hands. Because of this, no one had dared to go against her one rule.

 

Uchiha and Senju, Fuma and Hagoromo, the Uzumaki, the Hyuga, the Shimura, and all of the other families in the city were all tended to with the same respect and the same dedication. Everyone became equal when they entered her hospital.

 

She had maintained this place of peace for over twenty years and had never failed in her promise.

 

Madara wanted to trust this woman, wanted to believe that Sakura would be safe under her supervision, but that didn’t change the fact that Tsunade was a Senju and that didn’t change the fact that Sakura was the old lady of the president of the mother chapter of the Uchiha MC. That Sakura was a very real target for the Senju MC and was in a very real amount of danger.

 

Everyone in the club, not just Madara, wanted to protect their pink haired friend, a woman who had taken care of Sasuke since childhood and who had stolen the heart of their president. She was an ally to them all and the Uchiha took care of those who won their way into their good graces.

 

“Then what do you suggest, Izuna? Should we go and threaten her? Tell the woman who has saved the lives of our civilian family members dozens of times that we’ll, what, break the neutrality rule and kill her if something happens to Sakura?” Izumi hissed, glaring at the vice president.

 

“Something like that,” Izuna growled in response.

 

“You’re letting your hatred for the Senju blind you. We can’t threaten this treaty we have with the hospital. It’s not our asses who would be suffering for it, it would be our family members that aren’t part of the club. They would be the ones in danger if Tsunade no longer protected them,” Shisui argued, leaning onto his elbows on the round table.

 

Izuna scowled but remained silent.

 

“Tsunade is a reasonable woman. Not just that, but she has dedicated her life to preserving this neutrality to better take care of her patients. She never appreciated the war between our families…” Madara mused aloud, leaning back into his chair thoughtfully, “But she is still a Senju, her loyalty will always be to her family first. She’s the only reason that some of the Senju we’ve faced in combat are not only still alive but not behind bars. She has been working for their club in secret to maintain this peace in her hospital.”

 

“So we’re looking for a way to ensure she will uphold her declaration when Sakura is in her hospital. Just in case Tsunade can be somehow swayed by her cousins to give up Sakura as a hostage,” Izumi summarized, not missing how Madara’s lip rose in a semblance of a snarl at just the thought of Sakura being abducted.

 

“What about an offering of sorts?” Itachi suggested after a tense moment of silence, his face the picture of neutrality.

 

“Care to explain?” Madara replied, arching a brow at the younger Uchiha.

 

“If the club delivers an offering to Tsunade, or rather a donation to the hospital, it could accomplish a number of things. On the outside, it would appear that the club is showing our support for the president of the mother chapter’s old lady. It would reflect well on our club. Another show of support to our community after being inspired by Sakura’s success,” Itachi began, resting his elbows on the arms of his chair as he spoke.

 

The other members of the club leaned in, listening closely to their second youngest officer as he detailed his plan. The placid man was well known for his intelligence, many considering him to be a genius on par with Madara, and his strategies were well respected in the fact that they nearly always succeeded.

 

“However, it would also show Tsunade that Sakura is tied to our club, that she is under our protection. That as such, she is a target for the members of the Senju MC. And that our donation is a way of supporting her hospital and that her debt for our charity would be Sakura’s protection,” the young Uchiha finished.

 

“And I suspect that your plan involves donating the earnings from our annual charity bike auction that is coming up?” Madara guessed.

 

Itachi nodded simply. “That is the one.”

 

“Have you lost your mind? That is our most successful charity run every year! I’ve spent all year working on those bikes, you would give our earnings from the auction to a _Senju_?” Izuna argued, openly glowering at his elder brother.

 

“Izuna has a point,” Obito finally interjected, having been silent for most of the meeting, “We easily pull in a few hundred thousand dollars every time we hold that auction. That’s thirty plus custom made bikes that we would be giving away just to hope Tsunade will keep your girlfriend safe at work.”

 

The Konoha chapter of the Uchiha MC held their custom bike auction every year, a sought after charity event to raise money for an organization of their choice. The charity not only kept the police off of their backs but kept their presence welcome in Konoha. As long as they did more good than not and kept the darker aspects of club business under wraps, the citizens of the city allowed them to stay.

 

Last year the club had chosen the firefighters of Konoha, a donation which lead to the opening of a new fire station in a part of the city that had desperately needed it. The year before that, the club had chosen an organization dedicated to giving food, shelter, and work opportunities to the homeless in the city, a donation that had lead to a dramatic decrease in the homeless population. The year before that, their charity auction had donated its earnings to an organization dedicated to women’s health, a donation that helped the women of Konoha get the birth control and access to health care that they couldn’t afford on their own.

 

Being the chosen organization for the donation from the custom bike auction was a highly sought after position and giving it to the hospital just for the chance Tsunade wouldn’t betray Sakura seemed insanely excessive.

 

“You act as if we would be placing the donation in Tsunade’s hands. The money would go to the hospital, not the director. Sakura wouldn’t be the only one to benefit from this arrangement, any of our family members who need hospitalization will receive better treatment. Not just that, but an improvement to the hospital is an improvement to the lives of every person in the city,” Madara argued back, crossing his arms across his chest in agitation.

 

“The donation could even be seen as a show of good faith and appreciation for her continued neutrality and the care she’s provided to everyone sharing our last name,” Izumi tacked on thoughtfully.

 

“Not just that, but if Tsunade gives up Sakura, a woman under the protection of the club, it will mean an escalation in the war. It will lead to even more blood shed and there will never be a chance for peace,” Itachi added, his voice calm despite the heated nature of the discussion.

 

“Hah!” Izuna mocked, “Peace with the Senju. What a laughable concept. You all know what they are. Don’t you remember how they threw that _treaty_ back in our faces? And you’re all still vying for that pipe dream? We can’t trust them and we will never be able to. They all need to die.”

 

“We maintained an armistice for over three months after a century of nothing but war. They want peace as badly as we do, they just struggle - as you do, brother - to put the past behind them,” Madara reminded, eyes narrowing at his younger brother.

 

“After what they’ve done to our family?” Izuna growled before adding, in a much more meaningful tone, “To _us_?”

 

The vice president's unspoken words were obvious to everyone sitting at the table. Madara and Izuna’s parents and three of their brothers had died as a result of this war. Izuna wanted bloodshed, wanted revenge, but Madara still strove for peace.

 

“The Senju can say the very same,” Madara replied sharply.

 

“So are we doing this or what? We’ve been up here for an hour, talking in circles. Let’s make a decision already,” Shisui grumbled, crossing his legs so he could fiddle with the bandages tightly wrapped around the still healing gunshot wound in his calf.

 

Izumi slapped his hand in reprimand, eyeing him in a silent threat. Shisui grunted in frustration before dropping his foot back to the floor and resisting the urge to pick at the wound he had received during the assault against the Fuma and the Senju a little more than a month previous.

 

“Very well. Let’s put it to a vote then. All in favor of donating the earnings from the custom bike auction to Konoha Regional Hospital?” Madara declared, holding up his hand before stating, “Aye.”

 

The trio raised their hands in unison, Obito following after, as they all stated, “Aye.”

 

Izuna glowered at the group, a scowl marring his features, before he raised his hand and unhappily growled, “Aye.”

 

“Then the motion passes. The donation will go to the hospital. Izumi, would you be so kind as to deliver the news to Tsunade herself? I believe that speaking with our treasurer will-” the president of the Uchiha MC began before being interrupted.

 

“I’ll go,” Obito interjected firmly, surprising everyone at the table.

 

All eyes fell onto him in shock, some filled with more disbelief than others.

 

“Uh, I think it would be a better idea if me or Itachi went, Obito. It would look too much like a... Well, it would look like a threat if we sent our sergeant at arms,” Izumi explained gently, grimacing.

 

“Correct me if I’m wrong… but isn’t that the point here? A subtle threat that if her trash family hurts Sakura that there will be hell to pay?” Obito returned gruffly, earning a glare from the youngest officer in the MC.

 

“It is an unspoken understanding. _Subtlety_ will be key here. Tsunade is an incredibly valuable ally we can’t afford to upset,” Izumi argued, her temper flaring in response to Obito’s foul attitude.

 

“And she won’t be. Me going will kill two birds with one stone. I’ll deliver the message for the club since I have something I need to say to the director anyways,” the sergeant at arms explained vaguely.

 

Izumi and Shisui’s faces both became pinched with confusion although Madara shot the one armed Uchiha a knowing look.

 

“What could you possibly have to say to her?” Shisui questioned with a quirked eyebrow, staring at Obito in disbelief.

 

“Alright, Obito, I believe you’ll be a fitting messenger. Does everyone agree?” Madara interrupted, holding up his hand, “Aye.”

 

“Aye,” Obito and Izuna replied immediately, halfheartedly raising their hands.

 

Itachi also raised his hand, stating, “Aye.”

 

Izumi gave Itachi a meaningful look, a gaze which he responded with a nod. She nodded imperceptibly back before raising her hand as well and stating, “Aye.”

 

“Wait, I’m still-“ Shisui started, still confused.

 

“Shisui,” Itachi interrupted smoothly, leveling Shisui with the same meaningful stare, “Later.”

 

Shisui gazed into his cousin’s eyes for a long few moments before sighing deeply. He leaned back into his chair, flicking up his hand noncommittally, as he grumbled, “Yeah, sure, send the attack dog. Whatever. Aye.”

 

“Very well then, everyone agrees. Our weekly meeting is adjourned. We’ll have another meeting in the next of couple days to discuss the result of Obito’s meeting with Tsunade,” Madara summarized, standing from his seat at the table.

 

“More like to plan how we’re going to deal with our family not being allowed at the hospital anymore…” Shisui grumbled, earning a cuff to the back of the head from Izumi.

 

* * *

 

Obito stood outside of the hospital, staring up at the sprawling, utilitarian building in front of him. His eye drifted across the rows of ornamental trees and the well manicured hedges and flower beds that were strategically planted around the walkways leading inside. His gaze rose to the top of the multi floor hospital and the handful of flags waving proudly at its peak. He watched as a constant flow of cars and buses picked up or dropped off patients and family members beneath the massive overhang which protected the front doors from the elements. He observed the groups of people, health care workers, patients, and visitors alike, all going in and out of the hospital doors as if it were the easiest thing in the world.

 

Everything before him was so incredibly orderly, so routine and non threatening. The calmness around him clashed with the unmitigated chaos within him. His heart raced frantically in his chest. His head pounded, the pain crisply centered behind his missing eye. The stumps where his limbs now ended ached, the scars littered across his body stung, and the fingers and toes of the limbs that were no longer there burned.

 

His hand shook as he stared at the all too familiar, sliding glass doors a short ways ahead of him.

 

Obito had arrived at the hospital over a half hour ago. He had parked his bike in the back of the acres wide parking lot, thinking that the long walk to the front door would allow him to gather the courage he needed to enter. Now, after a half hour of staring at those foreboding double doors, he had yet to gather the bravery to go inside.

 

He had thought for sure he would never return to this place again. He hadn’t even seen the building in decades, a building that somehow hadn’t changed in the slightest during his prolonged absence, and finally standing in front of the looming giant brought back all of the memories of his suffering.

 

This was a place where people went to die.

 

What was he even doing here? This was a terrible idea…

 

The thought of having to face his family, of showing them that he was too weak to do what he had promised he would do - what he had fought for the right to do - was the thing that finally spurred him forward. The thought of never saying what needed to be said, however, was what kept his feet moving, even as he felt more like he was walking to his grave rather than into a place of healing.

 

Obito wished he could wear his cut, one of the few things that brought him comfort. His family was all he had, the only thing he cared about and the only thing that cared about him. The weight of his cut on his back had always felt like the hands of his family members were on his shoulders in support. Heading into this dreaded place without it felt wrong.

 

The Uchiha felt as if had been losing his grip lately. The stress from the recent clashes with the Senju and being hyper aware of the inevitable fallout that was to come had been the start of it. Him and his club mates had killed nearly two dozen Senju and Fuma and he knew that they were planning a retaliation.

 

Obito was hypervigilant as he waited for the shoe to drop. He wondered who would die this time around.

 

Now, with this stress being even further compounded by entering the hospital, he felt like his racing heart would stop dead in his chest or that his mind would finally break beneath the weight of the war and the struggles of the past and the future.

 

As if he’d ever tell anyone how he was suffering...

 

Obito placed one foot in front of the other, forcing himself onward and forcing his escalating thoughts out of his mind. His heart pounded so forcefully that he could hear his heartbeat in his ears and not much else. He tried to focus on slowing his breath to calm his heart but the action succeeded in nothing but making him dizzy.

 

He strode past a group of nurses who all gave him a sympathetic look as he passed, their eyes lingering on his missing arm and eye. He passed by a family of three, the youngest of the trio, a young boy, tugging on his mother’s sleeve and curiously pointing at the Uchiha only to be scolded. He ignored them all, the entirety of his attention swallowed up by the glass doors before him.

 

When he finally stepped through the threshold of the hospital, the glass doors sliding open automatically as he entered, he was hit with the sickeningly familiar scent of the hospital. The pungent burn of cleaning chemicals, the stench of sick, and the pathetic attempt at covering it with air fresheners.

 

The Uchiha’s heart increased its pace in his chest so far that he felt like he was going to be sick. He wanted nothing more than to turn around and leave, to enter back into the wide open world with clean air and sunlight, but continued forward. He had come here for a purpose and he refused to fail. He refused to be defeated by _bad memories_.

 

Even as his will hardened, the pain in the stubs of his limbs, behind his heart, and in his head did not abate. The panic fueling his pain only increased as he entered further into the hospital, following the same footsteps he had hundreds of times before. The nauseating air of this place made him feel like he was suffocating more than the stench of blood or viscera ever would.

 

When he finally reached the familiar elevators leading to the upper floors, he found it was too much.

 

Obito slipped away down one of the side hallways, finding refuge behind a cart filled with clean linens. He hid behind the tall cart, halfway covered with a concealing tarp, roughly falling back against the wall as he tried to catch his breath. It was only when he brought his hand up to his heart that he realized how forcefully he was shaking.

 

He couldn’t face Dr. Senju like this…

 

He needed something to help with this anxiety and the throbbing pain in what was left of his limbs. Something to help him find his bearings so he could speak to her without looking like he was a gentle breeze away from dropping dead. He needed to calm down.

 

Reaching into the front pocket of his hoodie, Obito pulled out a familiar bottle of pain pills. He popped off the lid to the plastic jar, bringing the container to his lips and tipping a couple, maybe a few, pills into his mouth. He swallowed them dry, the bitterness of the medication lingering on the back of his tongue.

 

He shoved the bottle back into his pocket, dropping his head and taking a deep breath. As he focused on his breathing, a useless attempt at calming down, his gaze caught on the stack of blankets on the shelves of the cart of clean linens. He reached out to touch the off white blanket and found that they were the very same as the ones he had once been wrapped in, the pattern on the thin fabric one that could only be felt instead of seen.

 

His hand dropped back down to his side as he closed his eye, overwhelmed by the memories of the time he had spent here.

 

Obito could still remember the moment he had woken up from his coma. He had been so hopeful, like he had always been. He was in the hospital after all and hospitals were supposed to be places of healing. He couldn’t remember what had happened but he knew that, if he was here, then everything was going to be okay.

 

How foolish he had been…

 

A foolishness that he only first began to realize when he tried to reach for the nurse call button and found his arm was gone, severed halfway between his elbow and shoulder. He had frantically tried to rush out of his bed, struggling over the railings of the hospital bed, and had fallen flat on his face when one of his feet didn’t touch the floor as it should have. His IV had ripped out of his remaining arm, blood gushing from the new wound, and he had painfully wrenched at the catheter which reached beneath his thin hospital gown and between his thighs.

 

An alarm on his bed and an alarm on his IV pole began to scream at him, only fueling his panic as he finally looked down and saw the stump that was all that remained of his leg. Two nurses had rushed in and found him on the floor next to his hospital bed, confused and frightened tears running down his face and blood slowly staining his gown as he stared at the scarred stumps where his limbs had once been.

 

The first words that had come out of his mouth hadn’t been a question about what had happened. It hadn’t been a demand as to why his limbs were gone. It wasn’t even a call for help in getting off the freezing tile floor. All of that had been so incredibly unimportant in comparison to one thing:

 

“ _Where’s Rin?”_

 

If he had been hurt this bad, where was she? Was she okay? Was his best friend, the only person who had always been there for him, the woman he had been in love with for as long as he could remember, okay?

 

She hadn’t been...

 

They had all lived, yes. Kakashi had been nearly unharmed, having walked out of the hospital after he had woken up on his own. Obito had been crippled for life, the car accident having robbed him of two of his limbs and one of his eyes. But Rin… She had gotten the worst of it.

 

Obito had been in a coma for a week. Rin would be in a coma for a year.

 

He could recall how Madara had been the only one to visit every day, the only one to take him to his physical therapy, and the only one to treat him like he was still human. Obito had never known his parents as they had died shortly after his birth. His grandmother, the woman who had taken care of him his entire life, had died just a year previous and he lived by himself as an emancipated minor. There had been no one else to take care of him and Madara had stunned Obito by becoming someone he could count on.

 

Obito could still relive how people began to look at him differently. How looks of amusement or friendly smiles had been replaced by stares of pity and sometimes even outright disgust.

 

He could still feel the burning jealousy he had felt when he learned that Kakashi had walked out of the hospital the morning after the accident with nothing more than some stitches and a missing right eye.

 

More than anything, Obito could never forget the sorrow. He had visited Rin every day to talk to her while she slept. The nurses had all encouraged him, telling him that she could hear him and it would bring her comfort. Looking back on it, he realized that they had all been lying. He could still remember the scent of lilies on Rin’s bedside table and the sun shining against the jar containing her collection of seashells.

 

Through it all, Obito had remained optimistic. Even being crippled for life, he had held out hope. After all, everything would be okay once Rin woke up. He had so much to tell her. He wanted to tell her how his wild cousin Madara had strangely enough become his closest confidant, how he had been there for him through it all. He knew she would be proud of him when he told her that Madara was beginning to teach him how to ride a motorcycle with just one arm and one leg. Obito couldn’t wait to tell her how Madara was trying to convince him ( _Him!_ ) to join the club when he got older, despite knowing she would disapprove. Rin had never appreciated the outlaw club after all, but Obito had thought it was the thought that counted. The fact he was wanted somewhere by someone.

 

Obito had focused so much energy on learning how to walk again. He refused to be in a wheelchair when Rin finally woke up. He wanted to be able to take care of her, to help her, when she went through her own recovery. Every day when he was done with physical therapy, he would go upstairs to visit her while he waited for Madara to come pick him up.

 

It had been during one of these walks up to visit Rin that Obito had inadvertently overheard the five words that had stopped his heart.

 

“ _She will never wake up.”_

 

He had been in the middle of opening the door to Rin’s room when he heard the voice of the doctor speaking with Rin’s parents. He had paused immediately, his cheerful greeting words withering away in his throat as his feet rooted to the ground.

 

Rin was brain dead, the doctor had said in a tone more fitting a funeral than a hospital (weren’t people supposed to get better here?). That she would never wake up because she couldn’t. That the only things keeping her breathing, keeping her heart beating, her body alive, were the machines she was hooked up to.

 

The doctor had said that they could keep her alive using these machines but that it would be futile. Then the doctor had given them a recommendation to see one of the grief counselors in the hospital like she wasn’t talking about the life of the most important person on the face of the planet.

 

The first time Obito had ran after losing his leg was moments after.

 

He didn’t believe them. He had thought that there was no way it was true. There was no way that Rin would never wake up. She would get up any minute, any second now. Those beautiful honey brown eyes of hers would slid open, she’d look over at him sitting next to her bed, and she’d give him that smile she always gave him when she first saw him.

 

He would tell her everything that had happened. He would help her recover, help her get back on her feet and help her get back to normal. And then he would finally confess how much he loved her.

 

He was going to ask her to marry him.

 

The doctors had told Obito that he had died during that car crash, that his heart had stopped beating. That he had been dead during the life flight to the hospital and that he shouldn’t have survived at all. He had been told that he had died but he knew for a fact that the day he actually died wasn’t the day of the crash… It was the day that Rin’s parents pulled the plug on the light of his life.

 

Obito had stopped going to physical therapy after they let Rin die. The hospital had become a place of death instead of the place of hope and of healing that it had once been.

 

He had confronted Kakashi after Rin’s funeral when the silver haired man had not shown up. Obito had been furious that not only had Kakashi not had the decency to say goodbye but that he had never once visited her at the hospital. Even missing an arm and a leg, Obito had broken Kakashi’s nose and thrown him to the ground. It was Madara, the only person who had been there for him, who had ripped him off of Kakashi’s limp body. It was Madara who had brought him home. It was Madara who had wrapped him up in his arms when Obito couldn’t stop crying. It was Madara who refused to abandon Obito at the lowest point in his life when all he had wanted was to die so he could be with Rin again.

 

And it was Madara who Obito chose to serve from then on. When the tears ran out, never to resurface since that dark day... When he had nowhere left to go but downwards but Madara kept pulling him back up… When he had no purpose to his life any longer, let alone the will to keep living it… Obito had turned to the club.

 

A place where the scarred Uchiha had once again found purpose. He had found respect and meaning with his family. He may have never found love again, his life may have still felt like a waste of time, but at least his hollow life had some purpose. At least he had his family.

 

Obito had never been back to the hospital until today.

 

His eye opened, his gaze once again met by the off white blankets piled on top of that cart.

 

He had never returned to the hospital until today but he had come here for a very important reason. He had something he needed to speak with Dr. Senju about. Something as important to him as Madara’s attempt at protecting his old lady was to him.

 

Obito could feel as the effects of the painkillers finally kicked in. He felt as the ache slowly abated, instead replaced by a calming warmth that crept across his skin. He could feel as his racing heart slowed, his mind finally clearing like mist in the morning sunlight. He took a deep breath, dropping his head back against the wall behind him.

 

He was embarrassed to realize he had been hiding behind that cart for over a half hour but was thankful that he was finally ready. Pushing off against the wall, he finally stood on his own two feet and made his way over to the elevators that had once frightened him off. Charting his path based on the map on the wall and the list of names beside it, he took the elevator to one of the higher floors. Exiting the lift, he followed the signs which pointed him toward one of Tsunade’s two offices, this one on the medical surgical unit.

 

He approached the door to her office, stopping before the heavy wooden door. As he made a fist, intent on knocking on her door, he recognized a familiar voice inside that nearly pulled a growl from his chest.

 

“-reason to be so upset!” the familiar voice of Hashirama sounded from inside.

 

Obito, trying to reel back the scowl on his face, discreetly leaned against the wall next to the door as if politely waiting instead of eavesdropping.

 

“I told you a thousand times and I’ll tell you again! You keep your turf war the hell out of my hospital! That Uchiha is under my protection! Not only that, but they aren't involved in your pissing match between the MCs!” the voice of Tsunade boomed from inside.

 

“We were just checking them out, we saw the name plate when we came to visit and-” the equally familiar and equally infuriating voice of Tobirama chimed in only to be interrupted by Tsunade’s roar.

 

“And what would you have done if they had been in the Uchiha MC? Not a fucking thing, that’s what! I take care of all the patients that you send my way outside of the hospital to keep your dumb asses out of trouble. We agreed that because I take care of all the patients you can’t patch together yourself, all of our family members that would be in the godsdamned ground if it wasn’t for me, that you leave _my_ hospital alone. Even the Uchiha honor this agreement!”

 

“We haven’t forgotten our deal, Tsuna, we just-” Hashirama tried.

 

“Don’t pull the Tsuna card on me now, Hashirama! You nearly betrayed my trust, betrayed our agreement! I can hardly believe it! If this was any other-!”

 

As Obito listened to the woman inside berating her cousins for considering an action that would have resulted in more bloodshed than the Senju MC president could possibly imagine, Obito caught sight of a familiar head of pink hair. His eyes flicked towards the familiar form of Madara’s old lady, taking in her crisp doctor’s coat and her nose pressed into a stack of files.

 

Obito calmly pushed off of the wall in front of Tsunade’s office, not wanting to bring attention to himself, and walked down the hallway. He turned down a smaller hallway, one which dead ended into a couple of supply rooms, and concealed himself behind the wall. Listening closely to the activity behind him, he heard the sound of a door opening. He recognized the sound of Tsunade’s growling voice, even if he couldn’t make out her words at this distance. What he could easily make out was the clicking sound of Sakura’s heels on the tile floor coming to a stop as well.

 

“Oh, you must be Dr. Haruno, Tsuna’s new resident!” Obito heard Hashirama greet in a sickeningly friendly tone.

 

Obito’s hackles rose instinctively, his entire body tensing as he restrained himself from flying around the corner and going to Sakura’s aid. The kindhearted woman would have no idea the danger she was in. The fact that she was now face to face with the most dangerous man in the entire Senju family and a man who Madara himself considered to be his mortal foe: the president of the mother chapter of the Senju MC, Hashirama Senju.

 

Obito knew that his future actions could lead to the loss of the treaty with the hospital and him possibly going to prison but he would gladly kill the president and vice president of the Senju MC then and there if they even tried to hurt Sakura.

 

“I’m Hashirama and this is Tobirama, we’re Tsuna’s cousins. You’re my wife’s cousin's son’s friend, right?” Hashirama continued cordially, a smile in his voice.

 

Obito listened closely, on alert from the Senju president’s innocuous question. Did he know who Sakura was? Did he know she grew up with Sasuke? More importantly, did he know that she was Madara’s old lady and that she was tied to the Uchiha MC?

 

There was a long pause before Sakura asked in a baffled tone, “I’m… I’m what now?”

 

“Er, damn, what’s his name…” Hashirama thought out loud.

 

“Sorry, I think you’re mistaken. I don’t know any Senju besides Dr. Senju,” Sakura stated, her hesitation obvious in her tone even if Obito couldn’t see her face from his hiding spot.

 

“Oh, he’s not one of us. My wife, Mito, she’s an Uzumaki.”

 

“You’re thinking of Kushina’s boy, Naruto,” Tobirama interjected in an impatient tone.

 

“Ah, Naruto!” Hashirama declared, “Right! That’s his name.”

 

“Oh, uh… Yes. We’re friends,” Sakura answered cautiously.

 

“No need to be nervous! _He_ may look a little scary but we’re nice,” the Senju president joked loudly.

 

“Shut up, you idiot,” the Senju VP berated, “She’s obviously a delicate woman. Just look at her.”

 

Obito would have snorted in amusement at someone so grievously underestimating Sakura if he was anything less than furious.

 

“Ah, my apologies, little lady. Friends of the Uzumaki are friends of ours! Even if Kushina may not like us so much…” Hashirama continued before clearing his throat, “Her and Mito are still close though. Minato is a good man to.”

 

“Yes, they are good people. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m quite busy. I have patients to see,” Sakura dismissed politely.

 

‘ _Good job, Sakura,’_ Obito thought with an internal sigh of relief, ‘ _Get away from them quickly.’_

 

When Tobirama spoke again, his words came as such a shock that Obito couldn’t resist peering around the corner of the hallway he hid in to stare at the group.

 

“You wouldn’t happen to be busy tonight, would you, Dr. Haruno?” the silver haired man questioned in a tone that sat poorly with the Uchiha.

 

When Obito gazed at Sakura, so incredibly small looking in comparison to the two Senju standing in front of her, he was able to catch the bewildered expression on her face.

 

“I’m sorry?” she responded, her face scrunched up in confusion as she gazed up at the silver haired man standing before her.

 

Obito couldn’t see what the Senju VP was doing with his hands, the man’s back turned to Obito, but he did catch the catlike smirk on his face as he handed Sakura a folded up piece of paper. Obito didn’t fail to notice Sakura’s dominant hand fisted at her side, hidden from the view of the two Senju, as if she was prepared to defend herself from these strangers. A reaction Obito was incredibly satisfied to see even if this entire interaction set off all of the warning bells in his head. He didn’t trust that smile on Tobirama’s face and it didn’t look like Sakura did either.

 

“In case a lovely lady such as yourself finds herself in need of company... I promise us bikers aren’t as intimidating as we look,” Tobirama invited, the catlike smirk still stretched across his lips.

 

Obito narrowed his eye, nearly certain that this invitation was a trap. Tobirama must know that Sakura was Madara’s old lady, that must be why he had given her an invitation to what sounded like the Senju clubhouse.

 

“Er… thank you…? I, uh, I really need to get going. Have a nice day,” Sakura blurted out, spinning on the ball of her foot and leaving, her heels clicking against the tile floor loudly.

 

Obito hid behind the wall once again as the Senju brothers turned around to face the hallway he hid in. He turned so his back would face them as they approached, leaning against the wall with his shoulder and feigning nonchalance by pretending to stare into his phone. He heard their booted footsteps as they passed behind him and intently listened to their quiet conversation.

 

“Tobi, you dog! Hah! I told you you had a scary face! You made her run off,” Hashirama teased in a whisper, his laughter louder than his words.

 

“Ugh, shut _up_ , brother,” Tobirama hissed.

 

“You’re so cruel to me…”

 

“That’s because you’re an idiot.”

 

“How will you ever satisfy a woman as soft as her with such a foul temper?” the Senju president continued to tease as they stepped into the elevator that Obito had abandoned not long ago.

 

“How did you ever find a wife with such a-” the VP began to growl back before the elevator doors closed and cut off his words.

 

Obito stepped out of the hallway after their voices disappeared, his gaze falling on Sakura standing a ways away at the nurses station. He watched as she pulled the folded up piece of paper from the pocket of her coat, her expression turbulent. Her sharp eyes narrowed at the content of the note Tobirama had given her before she forcefully balled up the piece of paper and threw it into the trash.

 

Obito breathed another sigh of relief as she stormed off. It appeared that he was right in thinking she would be okay to have around his family after all.

 

He approached Tsunade’s office door, knocking briskly before her aggravated voice called him inside. When he entered and her calculating gaze fell upon him from over the top of the papers in her hands, he was not surprised to see the shock in her expression.

 

“An Uchiha, I take it? To what do I owe the honor?” she greeted sharply, dropping the papers she had been reading onto the desk she sat behind.

 

“Good evening, Dr. Senju. My name is Obito Uchiha, I’m the sergeant at arms from the mother chapter of the Uchiha MC,” Obito introduced formally.

 

“And what business do you have here, enforcer?” she demanded, folding her arms across her chest as she leaned back in her chair.

 

“I’ve come to deliver a message from Madara Uchiha, the president of my chapter.”

 

“What could the leader of the Uchihas possibly have to say to me?” she questioned, wariness in her gaze even as she stared the Uchiha down.

 

“The club has a donation for your hospital. Sakura Haruno, Madara Uchiha’s old lady-” Obito didn’t fail to notice how Tsunade’s eyebrows shot up in surprise, “-has inspired the club with her recent achievement. We want to show her, and our community, our support by donating the earnings from our next charity auction to the hospital.”

 

“Oh? How incredibly gracious of you all. And for my own precious little student no less,” Tsunade replied, an edge still in her tone as she watched Obito with a new understanding.

 

“Indeed. Her accomplishments have impressed us all. We have been grateful to have her company and her commitment to my president. We all care for her a great deal. It would be a shame if anything were to cause her trouble while she was here.”

 

Tsunade’s eyes narrowed dangerously.

 

“And Madara sends his sergeant at arms to tell me of his _charity_ as what, a threat? I will not be intimidated in my own hospital, Uchiha,” Tsunade growled, her arms unfolding as she leaned forward in her chair in a way that reminded Obito of a lioness ready to pounce.

 

“Far from it.”

 

“Explain.”

 

“I doubted that you would remember me. It has been a number of years since we last spoke. And I certainly was a far cry from the man you see before you now. Although… I imagine you haven’t gotten a more difficult case than mine since you found me in your operating room.”

 

Obito leaned down to lift up the leg of his pants, revealing his prosthetic leg. Tsunade’s eyes widened, her mouth falling open in surprise as her eyes flicked across his form with a new understanding.

 

“You… You’re that Uchiha boy from the car accident twenty ago. The one with…” she gasped before cutting herself off and instead asking, “You joined the club?”

 

“I am. And I did,” he took a deep breath as he pushed his pant leg back down, hiding his prosthetic, “You’ll have to forgive me for not saying this sooner, Dr. Senju. I believe that you can understand the reasoning behind the delay, all things considered. But I came here today not only to deliver this message... I came because I wanted to tell you thank you for saving my life all those years ago.”

 

The expression on Tsunade’s face almost became pained as she slumped back in her seat, her eyes drifting to the surface of her desk. A self deprecating smile stretched across her painted lips as she slowly shook her head.

 

“All things considered, huh?” she huffed out a weak laugh, “That’s a way of putting it, isn’t it?”

 

“Then you understand the reasoning for my delay in giving you my thanks. And how this visit of mine is far from the threat that it seems,” Obito prompted.

 

“I do. I…” her eyes flicked across his form, briefly lingering on his missing limbs, “I’m glad to see you recovered so well. Even if... “

 

She trailed off, not finishing her statement, but the unspoken words lingered in the air. The Uchiha and the Senju shared the same silence for a long minute, both of them weighed down by memories of the past. Tsunade’s gaze returned to her desk, deep in thought, as Obito’s eye scanned the degrees and accolades hanging on her walls.

 

“Have we come to an agreement, Dr. Senju?” Obito finally asked, breaking the silence.

 

Tsunade’s gaze hardened once again as her sharp eyes shot back up to the man standing in the middle of her office. She straightened up in her seat, her elbows coming up to rest on her desk as she steepled her fingers.

 

“We have. Tell your president that there is nothing to be concerned about. There never was. I have maintained this peace for the past two decades. I will not let anything threaten it. And I will never allow anyone to lay a hand on _my_ apprentice,” Tsunade asserted, once again the indomitable woman who lead the hospital.

 

“Very well. I’ll be sure to relay your message,” the Uchiha replied, Tsunade’s vehemence convincing him that she was being truthful.

 

Sakura would be safe here, under Tsunade’s guidance.

 

The blonde nodded once, non-verbally dismissing the young man. Obito turned to leave but, when his hand settled on the doorknob, she called out to him.

 

“Obito Uchiha.”

 

“Yes, Dr. Senju?” Obito questioned, looking over his shoulder at the elder woman.

 

“You may believe that you were the most difficult case I’ve ever had but you’d be wrong…” she spoke, her tone morose.

 

He watched as she opened one of her desk drawers and removed a metal flask from deep within. She turned the container over in her hand a couple of times, considering it for a long moment. She was unhurried as she unscrewed the lid and took a long swing.

 

She breathed out a heavy sigh as she stared at her warped reflection on the surface of her flask. The distant look in her eyes made her appear that much older and it was a tense few moments before she finally spoke.

 

“Leave her some flowers for me, would you?” Tsunade finally stated in a soft voice, not looking up from her drink.

 

Obito turned away, staring at the pattern on the wood of the door before him. He nodded once before opening her door and leaving without another word.

 

* * *

 

When Obito finally pulled up at the clubhouse, he had yet to calm. Him mind was a maelstrom and the chaos of his thoughts made him even more on edge than ever. The phantom pain in his amputated limbs had returned, a burning sensation plaguing the place where his fingers and toes should have been. The pain was only sharper where his limbs now ended, the ragged scars from the amputation only hurting all the more.

 

After turning off his bike, he reached into the pocket of his hoodie once again. Pulling out the familiar pill bottle, he popped off the lid and tipped a few pills into his mouth. He closed the lid as he swallowed them dry, the bitter taste still lingering on the back of his tongue as he dismounted his bike and headed inside.

 

He spotted Madara inside, sitting at the bar and having a friendly conversation with Kagami. The two were smiling, Madara’s smile being one of amusement at Kagami’s animated gestures and wide grin. Obito approached the two and was greeted with a nod and a smile. He glanced around at the small crowd of people gathered in the clubhouse before canting his head, indicating he wanted to speak with Madara privately.

 

Madara nodded in understanding, slipping off of his stool and gesturing towards the meeting room on the second floor. The two Uchiha took the short trip upstairs to speak in the privacy of the officer’s meeting room.

 

“How did she receive the message?” Madara asked after Obito closed the door to the room.

 

“Well. She understood the meaning behind it. She wanted to convey that the peace she has fostered was never in danger,” Obito answered before bringing up another tidbit of information from his mission, “I even had the luck of eavesdropping on her berating Hashirama and Tobirama for what could have escalated into an attempt on one of our own’s life.”

 

“In what way?” the president asked sharply, his eyes narrowing dangerously.

 

“She caught them doing some investigating on one of our own in the medical surgical unit. They said that they had noticed their last name and just wanted to _check them out_.”

 

“A deadly move.”

 

“And one that was prevented by Tsunade. She appears to still be adamant on maintaining her peace. Her actions are proof of that. Sakura will be safe under her guidance, something she asserted would have been the case even with her affiliation. Although she did seem surprised when she learned of her connection to you,” Obito continued, leaning against the edge of the circular table.

 

“I suspect that her surprise translates to an ignorance on the Senju MC’s behalf as well. One that will no longer be the case soon enough…” the Madara replied, folding his arms across his chest in an all too familiar gesture.

 

“Perhaps sooner rather than later,” the younger Uchiha commented vaguely.

 

“What are you implying?”

 

“Sakura met Hashirama and Tobirama today.”

 

“How?” Madara demanded immediately, his eyes widened in alarm.

 

“They stopped her to introduce themselves after their… meeting with Tsunade. It appeared friendly enough on the surface but Tobirama gave Sakura an invitation to their clubhouse. I can’t be certain but, by the look on his face, I suspect it could have been a trap,” Obito detailed, watching as Madara’s expression became murderous.

 

“What happened exactly?” the wild haired man prompted, a barely concealed fury just beneath the surface of his collected tone.

 

“They all spoke briefly. Hashirama commented that she was Tsunade’s new student and that she was friends with that Naruto boy, Kushina Uzumaki and Minato Namikaze’s son. Sakura tried to excuse herself and Tobirama invited her to the clubhouse. Gave her a piece of paper, assumedly with some information. They left. Sakura threw the paper in the trash. That was it.”

 

“Then it appears that delivering this message and offering to Tsunade couldn’t have come at a better time. By what you’ve told me, she will be vigilant in keeping Sakura safe. And a part of that will be keeping her away from her damnable cousins…” Madara growled darkly.

 

“You better take care of that girl. She’s loyal to the club, loyal to you. And she’s in more danger than she knows,” the sergeant at arms demanded, shoving his hand into the pocket of his hoodie and fingering the edges of the pill bottle.

 

Madara’s gaze fell back onto the young Uchiha, his eyes lingering on the pocket of Obito’s hoodie where he knew he hid his pills. His knowing gaze flicked up to Obito’s face before he reached over to grip his shoulder affectionately.

 

“I appreciate you going to do this for me, Obito. More than you know…” the club president thanked sincerely before continuing in a more gentle voice, “Were you able to speak your piece?”

 

Obito shoulders relaxed as he deflated under the affection of his cousin. “I was.”

 

“I’m glad to hear,” Madara patted him on the shoulder once, his voice taking on a concerned tone as he added, “You come to me if you need to talk, alright cousin?”

 

Obito sighed, uncomfortable with expressing his emotions regarding his past, before nodding once. “I will if I need it.”

 

“Good,” the elder Uchiha replied before snaking his arm around Obito’s shoulders and pulling him into a tight, brotherly hug. The scarred Uchiha returned the embrace, patting his closest companion on the shoulder twice, before they separated.

 

“We’ll hold church tomorrow to discuss with everyone what happened. And how we’ll go about organizing the charity auction,” Madara commented as they exited the meeting room and made their way back downstairs.

 

“Very well. Is there anything that needs my attention tonight?”

 

“Not that I’ve been made aware of. Although Izuna should be back soon. I’ll let you know if anything has changed.”

 

“I’ll stick around then,” Obito’s eyes flicked up to the front door of the clubhouse as it swung open and Izuna made his way inside, “Speak of the devil.”

 

“Ah, good. I’ll speak with you later tonight,” Madara replied, making his way over to greet his brother.

 

Obito didn’t bother to respond as he made his way to the seat at the bar that was farthest away from everyone else. Despite the conversation with Madara and the concern he had showed him, Obito’s anxiety still hadn’t settled. His pills had yet to kick in either so the pain in his missing limbs was still agonizing, like a hot stove he couldn’t pull his hand away from.

 

Even worse, he could not stop thinking about Rin. The trip to the hospital brought back all of the terrible memories of when he was a young boy, memories of Rin’s death that still haunted him, and having Tsunade bring her up as well felt like a knife in his heart that he still couldn’t pull out.

 

He sighed deeply as he leaned against the bar.

 

“Hey, Obito! No Guren tonight?” Kagami greeted warmly, teasing the elder Uchiha about his brief fling with the blue haired woman from Oto.

 

“Shut the fuck up,” Obito growled back, glaring at the cheerful Uchiha.

 

Listening to Madara and hooking up with that kinky _psychopath_ Guren was the worst goddamn mistake of his life. Obito would cut off his other arm just to have something to _throw at her_ to distract her with while he ran away.

 

“Rough day?” Kagami asked with a sympathetic frown.

 

“None of your business.”

 

“Yeah, rough day. I know what’ll help though,” Kagami replied with a sagely nod before disappearing into the back storage room.

 

When he returned, he held a mason jar in one hand, a beer in the other, and a smile was spread across his lips.

 

“Here you go. The sisters made a new batch of their specialty ‘shine. They’re really enjoying the new stills they got so they’ve been getting pretty creative. This one is cinnamon flavored,” the messy haired Uchiha explained, setting the mason jar down on the bar in front of Obito.

 

“Riveting,” Obito deadpanned as he quirked an eyebrow at the jar filled with clear liquid sitting in front of him.

 

“I’ll just leave the bottle. Sorry about your shit day, cousin. I’ll play defense for you and keep everyone off your back,” Kagami offered, setting down three coasters with the Uchiha MC’s emblem printed onto them to protect the wood of the bar. He set a clean glass, also printed with the club’s emblem on the side, on one coaster before setting down a bottle of hard cider onto the other.

 

“Thank you,” Obito thanked sincerely.

 

“Any time,” Kagami replied with that knowing smile of his, popping the cap off of the bottle of cider before going to tend to the others sitting at his bar.

 

Obito poured himself a glass from the jar of home brewed moonshine. He knew from experience that the liquor would be incredibly high proof and would have the kick to prove it but that didn’t stop him from grimacing as he downed a sip from his glass. He breathed out a quick breath, as if to blow off the heat of the whiskey traveling down his throat. Through the harsh taste of the high proof alcohol he could indeed taste the cinnamon.

 

Those drunken ladies at the distillery sure knew their stuff.

 

He shook his head to shake of the last vestiges of the first sip before taking another. He drowned down the taste of the second shot with the more pleasant taste of his hard cider. He was pleased to discover that the flavors actually meshed well with one another and soon found himself taking another drink.

 

As Obito drank, his eyes flicked to the opening door and he watched as Sakura entered. She was still dressed in the clothes she had been wearing at the hospital, sans her doctor’s coat. Her eyes met his briefly and she greeted him with a warm smile and a wave.

 

No one ever looked at him like that anymore…

 

He lifted two fingers from the edge of his glass in return, watching as she was distracted by Madara happily swooping in and scooping her off of her feet. As Obito listened to the sound of Sakura’s gleeful laughter, he was reminded of Rin’s laugh. Sakura was a lot like Rin... They both had the same kind eyes, the same compassionate smile, and the same warm presence. They both treated him like a person, not an orphan or then a monster or an invalid.

 

The scarred Uchiha downed another sip from his drink as his thoughts were once again plagued by Rin. He wondered what she would be like if she was still alive. She had always wanted to be a nurse or even a doctor, much like Sakura. He believed that Rin would have accomplished her goal by now. Maybe she would be one of the doctor’s helping Sakura with her education?

 

He wondered what Rin would think of him now. Would she be ashamed of him? He had become everything she despised about the club. He was a glorified thug. He took the jobs that no one else wanted not just to save them the anguish of murder or torture but because he enjoyed it. He liked making the Senju and their allies suffer. It was their fault that Rin was dead, they deserved nothing less than to feel the agony he felt.

 

Rin would be horrified by him now. By the deep scars on his face, by the empty socket where his other eye should have been, by the stumps where his limbs now ended, by the number of people he had killed, by the blood that soaked his hand, by the stains on the knife in his boot, by everything he had become...

 

Obito continued to work on the already quarter empty jar in front of him, a desperate attempt to drown out the thoughts in his head. The painful memories of the woman he had loved, still loved, more than anything. He would do anything to see her again, even if just for a night. He had so much he needed to tell her, so much he needed to hear from her.

 

He wished he had just had the guts to tell her he was in love with her when they were kids. Then maybe none of this would have happened. Maybe she would still be there, maybe they would be married, have kids, a house. Most importantly, maybe she would still be alive...

 

Maybe he wouldn’t have had to see her body being kept alive by all those machines, even after everything that had been her had already died. Maybe he wouldn’t have had to go to her open casket funeral where he had gotten to see her corpse, frighteningly as lifeless as it had been in the hospital. Maybe he wouldn’t have had to see them lower her coffin into the ground, never to see the light of day again...

 

The scarred Uchiha felt as a sickness began to develop in his chest. A sudden panic gripped his heart as his mind forced himself to relieve the most painful parts of his past. He felt as if he needed to get away, needed to get out of this room where people were suddenly speaking too loudly, where the lights were too bright, and where the room was too hot.

 

Obito stood from his place on the stool at the bar only for his leg to give out beneath him. He dropped to his knees on the floor, his one hand flying out in front of him to catch himself. He could hardly keep himself upright with his one arm and one functioning leg, swaying unsteadily from his spot on the floor.

 

The world spun around him dangerously, his bleary mind unable to make out the floor beneath his hand let alone the path to get to his room and ride this shit out. He tried to blink to clear away the blurriness but found that it didn’t help. The floor continued to move underneath him, not allowing him to find enough purchase on anything to right himself.

 

He tried to move his hand, tried to get himself to stand so he could get away from this too bright, too loud, too crowded, too sickeningly hot room, but found that his fingertips were numb. His limbs didn’t want to move him and his lungs hardly wanted to draw in breath.

 

Obito distantly realized, with no small amount of shame, that the copious amount of high proof alcohol, which he was just now feeling now that he finally stood up, had interacted with all the pain meds he had taken today. And on an empty stomach no less.

 

Crap… He really fucked up this time. And through it all, he still couldn’t stop thinking about Rin...

 

Obito could hardly make out as someone knelt next to him, a warm hand settling on his shoulder. He tilted his head to look up at whatever poor soul had decided to try to help him. Even with his vision swimming, with colors bleeding out and with shapes blurry around the edges, he recognized her. He recognized the lines of her face, the swell of her lips, those beautiful, kind eyes...

 

He stared up at her in wonder for a long moment, his mouth falling open in shock. He released a broken huff as he fell against her, wrapping her up in his one arm.

 

“Rin…” he cried against her neck as he held her as tightly as he could.

 

She had come. He had no idea how she was here, but she was here. She was here and he would never be so stupid as to let her go again.

 

“Whoa!” Rin called out in surprise before continuing in a softer tone, “Hey now… Are you okay, Obito?”

 

“Rin… I’m so sorry...” he gasped against her warm skin as her hands tentatively settled on his sides.

 

“It’s okay, it’s okay,” she assured, her voice sounding like music to his ears.

 

He had longed to hear her voice for so long. Even when they were kids and would be separated for the night, he would miss her soothing voice. When she had fallen into her coma, he had been desperate to hear her warm tone. When she had died, he had prayed that when he died, he would hear her voice again.

 

He had wondered if he would ever get to hear her again if he killed himself… But here she was.

 

“Alright, come on, Obito,” Rin started, trying to stand and pull him to his feet at the same time, “Come on, let’s get you on your feet.”

 

Obito obeyed immediately, even though he leaned into her so heavily he was surprised she could still stand. His arm stayed tightly wrapped around her, unwilling to let her go.

 

“Rin, I’m ssso-I’m so sorry. I can’t- I can’t believe you’re… I’m just…” he slurred heavily, desperately trying to speak coherently.

 

He had so much he needed to tell her but he was so intoxicated he could hardly get the words out. A fact that only became that much worse as he was pulled to his feet and the effects of his pain pills and the alcohol became more and more apparent.

 

“Hey, it’s alright. Just come with me, okay? We’re going to lie you down,” Rin consoled, keeping him standing with her warm body.

 

“O-okay. Whatever you- whatever you want. Anything you want...” Obito mumbled against her shoulder, struggling to walk with her as she guided him somewhere. He couldn’t care where, as long as he was still with her.

 

He clung to her desperately as she lead him away, drowning in her. The feeling of her warm body, the smell of her that was so much different than he remembered but still so familiar. He desperately wished that he had his other arm back just so he could hold her properly.

 

Suddenly, his world was jarringly thrown to the side as he fell onto what he thought was a bed. The sudden shift was sickening but the sudden lack of Rin’s warmth was terrifying.

 

“Where-where are you? Don’t leave, please come back,” he called out desperately, weakly flailing as he tried to find some sort of purchase on the bed he was now sprawled across.

 

“Hey, it’s okay, calm down,” Rin soothed as her weight settled down on the bed next to him, “It’s just me. I’m here though.”

 

Obito reached for her, his hand finding her thighs. He dragged himself closer to her, dropping his head into her lap. His body was awkwardly knotted up on what he thought was his bed, his prosthetic leg slipping off as the fingers of his one good hand clung to her pant leg.

 

“I’m so happy you’re here. There’s ssso much I need to tell you… How-how sorry I am. I never should have-I should have focused better. Kakashi should have been driving. He wouldn’t have-” Obito ranted drunkenly, his words slurring horribly and his thoughts going off track as he tried to tell her what he needed to say.

 

“Hey, it’s okay, it’s okay,” she comforted, her fingers carding through his hair in a soothing gesture that immediately calmed him.

 

He wrapped his arm around her waist, burying his face against his soft belly.

 

“Rin…” he sobbed, tears building in his one good eye, “Rin, I love you. I’ve always loved you… Please- please don’t leave again…”

 

“I’m not going anywhere…” Rin whispered, even her voice sounding like tears were beginning to form.

 

Obito slowly lost consciousness, tears running down his face from his one good eye for the first time in nearly twenty years. Even as he lost himself to sleep, he clung to Rin, terrified that she was going to leave.

 

He would never let her go again.

 

* * *

 

Madara had kept Sakura away from the darker side of the club the best he could, refusing to allow the woman he loved to be put in danger. Even so, she had become a normal face around the clubhouse. She would often stop by after work to visit him and the others or to meet up with him before they went to his home or her apartment.

 

She had easily won over everyone in the club, a feat in and of itself. Everyone had quickly grown to like her, some a little too much for Madara’s comfort. People such as Shisui. Even Obito, the grouchy and aggressive young man he was, had softened up in Sakura’s presence. Perhaps too much, if what he had just heard from Shisui was true.

 

After returning from a short, half hour talk with one of the Hagoromo outside of the clubhouse, he had found that Sakura was missing. He had been intercepted by Shisui who, in a tone that suggested he was helping Madara out, had informed him that Sakura had gone with Obito to his flop room in the clubhouse over fifteen minutes ago. That she hadn’t returned and that, when she had gone into the back rooms with him, Obito had been clinging to her and pressed against her like he loved her.

 

Madara was going to rip Obito’s other fucking arm off if he dared to touch Sakura.

 

Fury clawed at his senses as made his way towards the back rooms. Through the rage clouding his mind, all Madara could think was that Sakura was _his_ old lady. She loved him and he loved her and no one was allowed to interfere with that. He would kill anyone who dared to touch her, to hurt her, or to try to take her away from him. Even if it was someone he loved, he would not allow anyone to lay a finger on his woman without losing a fucking arm.

 

He stormed into the back hallway, passing by the rooms of the other officers. The illicit noises coming from Izuna’s room only fueled his anger that much farther, his rage only increasing at the sounds he was terrified to stumble upon in Obito’s room. A situation he had found himself in twice before and one he was desperate to not repeat with the woman he was so deeply in love with.

 

Madara stopped in front of Obito’s door, finding it cracked. No noise came from within. He pushed open the door with purpose, giving it enough force to swing open entirely but not enough to slam in against the wall.

 

Sakura looked up from her spot sitting on Obito’s bed. Obito was passed out cold, his head in her lap and his arm wrapped around her in a way that looked less than comfortable. She was brushing her fingers through her hair, much in the way a mother carded her fingers through the hair of her child.

 

Madara’s knee jerk reaction was anger although the sight before him brought confusion with it as well. His rage was only abated when she greeted him with that sweet smile of hers, his fury rushing away from him until only agitation and confusion remained.

 

He strode forward and allowed her to pull him down into a brief greeting kiss. Sitting down next to her on Obito’s bed, he looked down at his apprentice. He was still pissed about whatever was happening here but the tears he noticed staining Obito’s face finally chipped away at the last of his anger.

 

“What happened?” Madara asked, confusion coloring his tone, as he locked eyes with Sakura once again.

 

“I think he drank too much. I was chatting with Shisui when I noticed him collapse at the bar. I helped carry him to his room…” she explained, still carding her fingers through Obito’s hair in a comforting gesture.

 

Madara frowned at the young Uchiha, concerned by the story. Obito never got that drunk, he never got so messed up that he would collapse. The only thing that had been different about today had been that he had gone to deliver the message to Tsunade and-

 

“Dara?” Sakura started softly, frowning as she looked down at Obito as well.

 

“Yes?” Madara prompted, his gaze returning to her worried expression.

 

Her eyes flicked back up to his as she asked in a soft tone, “Who is Rin?”

 

Madara dropped his head, folding his hands in his lap. He shook his head once, unable to bring even a bittersweet smile to his lips as shame overwhelmed him. As regret made it’s presence unable to be ignored once again.

 

“No one to worry about, my love,” he answered in a quiet tone, his eyes falling upon his cousin from beneath his long bangs. He stared at the tear stains on Obito’s cheeks and how her clung to Sakura as if she was his lifeline.

 

It was his fault, once again, that Obito was in this much pain. It was his fault that he hadn’t noticed the Senju lying in wait, the one that had tried to kill Obito but who had only succeeded in killing the love of his life. And now it was his fault that Obito was suffering once again since he had sent him to the hospital to deliver the message to Tsunade, to the place that had brought him nothing but suffering.

 

Gods, this was all his fault…

 

* * *

 

Obito awoke that morning alone and with a pounding headache clawing at the backs of his temples. He cracked open his eye with a groan, blinking rapidly to clear his vision only to be greeted with the sight of a garbage bin next to his bed.

 

He struggled to push himself up from his position laid out on his stomach, as if someone had positioned him so he wouldn’t choke on his vomit if he threw up in his sleep. He slowly pushed himself into a sitting position, his confusion only growing when he set his foot on the floor and noticed his prosthetic was no longer attached to his leg.

 

He rubbed his throbbing temples with his one hand, his bleary gaze scanning the floor for his prosthetic. He located the specialized piece of equipment and leaned down to grab it, unhappily strapping it back to his leg as he tried to recall the events of the night previous.

 

At the very least, Obito was grateful he had woken up in his own bed and with someone obviously having cared about him enough to not let him die in his sleep. He quickly realized that he had gotten blackout drunk, something made exponentially worse by the fact he had taken so many painkillers. He knew better than to do that to himself. Combining his pain pills and alcohol was always a terrible idea as it always affected him so strangely...

 

The last part of the night was particularly blurry and took a long minute for him to finally recall pieces of it. His eyebrows furrowed in confusion when he finally remembered clinging to a woman who he thought was Rin. Someone who had taken him to his room despite him babbling nonsense about Rin into her ear...

 

Who were they? They were a small woman. They weren’t Izumi. His cousin was nice, but not as kind as this woman had been. They had smelled like some floral perfume but there was an undertone that distinctly reminded him of the hospital and-

 

Dear sweet gods, what had he been thinking? Had he lost his mind? How could he have ever thought that _Sakura_ , Madara’s pink haired, green eyed girlfriend, was Rin?

 

Obito stood, perhaps too quickly if the pounding behind his skull was anything to go by, and made his way into the main room of the clubhouse. His gaze roved across the scant members of the club that lingered around, quickly spotting Sakura perched at the bar, nibbling at a bagel as she chatted with Kagami. It was incredibly unusual for Sakura to stay the night at the clubhouse but Obito didn’t question it, or the fact Madara was nowhere to be seen, as he strode up to the pink haired woman.

 

“Good morning, Obito,” Sakura greeted with a friendly smile, taking a bite out of her bagel as the painfully hungover Uchiha came to stand before her.

 

Why was she smiling so warmly after what he did?

 

“Sakura, may I speak with you for a moment?” he asked, his tone rushed.

 

“Yeah, of course,” she replied, setting down her bagel on the bar as she slid out of her seat, “Back in a sec, Kagami.”

 

“Take your time,” he replied, sitting back onto the stool behind the bar and returning to his textbook on law.

 

She followed Obito into the back hallway but, humiliated as he was for what he had done the night previous, he refused to bring her back into his room. Instead, they lingered in the still public space of the hallway leading to the officer’s rooms.

 

“Is everything okay?” Sakura asked, concern coloring her tone and her features.

 

Obito took a deep breath, closing his eye for a moment and dragging his hand through his messy hair as he tried to gather his thoughts. He had been so focused on finding her so he could apologize that he had yet to plan out what he would even say when he spoke to her.

 

“I am so sorry for last night. It was incredibly inappropriate for me to cling to you in such a way, especially since you helped me get to my bed. Even though I was drunk, I-” he apologized profusely before being cut off when Sakura slowly came forward and carefully wrapped her arms around his middle.

 

“W-what are... What are you doing?” He stuttered, holding his one arm far away from her as she hugged him.

 

“It’s nothing to be ashamed about. I’m not upset in the slightest. I’m so sorry you lost someone who you cared about so much… I know it’s not much, but I’m here for you if you need it,” Sakura offered, the compassion in her words stunning Obito.

 

That was something Rin would say. This was something Rin would do… Forgiving someone for doing something so incredibly inappropriate or wrong just because they were hurting. Offering themselves as a friend and a confidant just because they felt it was the right thing to do.

 

Obito slowly deflated in her embrace, releasing a tension that strung through his entire body.

 

He may not have the love of his life anymore but apparently, despite everything he had done, the gods had decided to bless him with a friend. This bizarre woman who treated him like a man and not an invalid or a monster. Who, for some reason unbeknownst to him, cared about him.

 

He paused for a long moment before he slowly wrapped his one arm around her. He returned her hug cautiously, not sure if he was allowed to touch her even as the comfort from her embrace spanned down to his bones.

 

“I…” Obito muttered, “Thank you…”

 

He had never felt anything like this since he had lost his best friend and the love of his life. He had never felt this kind of warmth and care outside of the members of his family. This affection, so free of judgment or expectation, had taken him by surprise.

 

In that moment, he decided that he would take care of Madara’s old lady. That, for as long as he lived, he would do anything in his power to keep this strange woman safe. Or, rather… he would do anything to take care of his _friend_.

 

Once again, Sakura had surprised him...

 

* * *

 

Later that day, after sharing a breakfast with Sakura and apologizing to a surprisingly sympathetic Madara, Obito visited a place that he hadn’t seen in over two decades. A place that had one brought him some of the most intense sorrow of his life.

 

He stared down at the beautifully decorated tombstone before him, reading the familiar name and passage etched across its polished surface.

 

_In everloving memory of Rin Nohara. To live in the hearts of those we love is not to die._

 

Despite the ache in Obito’s chest, it didn’t hurt as much as he had thought that it would visiting this place. He felt a longing in his soul but he didn’t feel as if his heart would stop beating from the sorrow as he had thought it would.

 

He knelt in front of the stone marker, his voice quiet and hesitant as he began to speak. He finally told Rin everything he had needed to: Everything about his life, what had happened after the accident. How he had lost Kakashi’s friendship but how he had found companionship in his club. How he did things that she would be ashamed of, that even he was ashamed of, but that he was content in helping those he loved. That he had found purpose where he thought he would find nothing and that was enough for him to live for.

 

He finally told her that he loved her.

 

When Obito left Rin’s gravesite, he removed a bouquet remaining from another visitor and replaced it with two of his own. One for himself and one for the doctor who still felt Rin’s death as Obito did.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’ve been really excited to write this chapter because I have a soft spot for Obito. Well, damn, I have a soft spot for all the Uchihas. But Obito’s character is one that I adore nearly as much as Sakura and Madara. I really wanted to show how Obito, who I have so far portrayed as this unfeeling murderer who only shows emotion when it’s his fury with the Senju, has this broken side. How the death of Rin has deeply affected him but how Madara was able to (metaphorically instead of literally in the AU and without the, y'know, Infinite Tsukuyomi plan) save his life. I wanted to show that caring relationship between Madara and Obito. I also wanted to give Tsunade some screen time as she will unfortunately get very little in this fic.
> 
> Side note, Rin had a jar of seashells sitting on her bedside table in the hospital because her hobby in the canon universe was collecting seashells. I absolutely love Rin and wish she had gotten way more screen time.
> 
> I also brought up a very real problem in the world in this chapter and that is drug abuse. Specifically, the most deadly form of drug abuse in the United States: prescription drug abuse. Depressants, opioids, and antidepressants account for more overdose fatalities (45%) than cocaine, heroine, methamphetamine, and amphetamines combined (39%). Prescription drug abuse becomes exponentially more dangerous when combined with alcohol, something that can lead to people stopping breathing, people’s hearts stopping, and so much more. Less known, opiate abuse can result in a variety of hospitalizible conditions, delirium, and visual hallucinations (as was shown in Obito when he thought Sakura was Rin).
> 
> Be safe, be careful, and there are people willing to help if you want it.


	13. Madara-sensei

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Today, December 24th, is Madara's birthday! So happy birthday to our favorite Uchiha mastermind!
> 
> A Joyful Yuletide, a Happy Kwanzaa, a (belated) Happy Hanukkah, a Merry Christmas, a Happy New Year, and an all around Happy Holidays to everyone. Consider this my holiday gift to all of you. Thanks for reading!

Kakashi pulled his scarf higher up his face, concealing his mouth behind the soft fabric, as he exited the MMA studio he had spent the last few hours training in. His muscles were sore and his skin still stung from the blossoming of fresh new bruises, but he could not lose the smile from his face after the invigorating sparring session with his long time pupils.

  
  


Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura still remained behind in the gym, all three of them celebrating Sakura's graduation from medical school in their own special way: by beating the crap out of each other.

  
  


The silver haired man shook his head in amusement as he began his walk down the sidewalk and around the gym to his car. His three students never failed to both impress and entertain him. Although his favorite student (and one he'd never admit out loud was his favorite) recently had him greatly concerned.

  
  


After all, the fact that Sakura had somehow become involved with the president of the Uchiha MC and Sasuke's uncle, Madara Uchiha, filled Kakashi with a deep sense of apprehension. He knew that she was a smart woman and that she was more than capable of making her own decisions but that didn't assuage the feeling of unease he felt about the entire situation. The sense that something was very wrong.

  
  


Kakashi had always held this same concern for Sasuke, especially when the then teenage Uchiha had told him he wanted to become a member of the MC once he was old enough. To a lesser extent, the elder man even maintained this same worry for Naruto due to his mother being cousins with Mito Uzumaki, the Senju MC president's wife. He had been able to put aside his distress about their connections to the violent MCs, however, in order to train them.

  
  


He could still remember when the trio, just kids at the time, had trudged into his workplace, covered in bruises, bandages, and blood, and demanding to be taught how to fight. Kakashi may act as if he was completely aloof, but his sharp gaze and even sharper mind had easily been able to discern the need that these children had.

  
  


Even though he had been a young man at the time and had just began to teach group classes to bring in extra money, he had taken the three children under his wing. As if he had had much choice in the matter all those years ago. His old master Hiruzen Sarutobi was a difficult man to say no to and, when he paid your checks, you generally didn't.

  
  


Although he had been upset about the development at first, the brats had grown on him as time went on. It didn't help that they had actually passed his bell test, something no other student had been able to accomplish before or since. It was baffling to him how little people understood the value of friendship or of teamwork.

  
  


Kakashi supposed he couldn't be too upset at all those who had failed his test. After all, he had learned the value of those precious things the hard way, something he was forced to remember once again with Sakura having gotten romantically involved with a member of the Uchiha MC. And not just any member...

  
  


It had to be the member that was _his_ mentor.

  
  


Kakashi had made a great many mistakes in his life. He could easily admit that he was a veritable fuck up, a grade A piece of trash. He tried his damndest every day to atone for what he had done, or failed to do, but nothing he ever did seemed to make a difference to him. Nothing would ever make up for the biggest mistake of his life.

  
  


Nothing he had ever done had made up for abandoning Obito and Rin during their darkest times.

  
  


Visiting Rin's gravestone every day hadn't made up for the fact he had never visited Rin in the hospital when she was in her coma and that he had purposefully avoided going to her funeral. And teaching these kids the value of teamwork and friendship hadn't made up for the fact that he had outright deserted Obito after the car crash, not brave enough to face his crippled friend after what had happened.

  
  


Kakashi hadn't even had the will to fight back when Obito finally confronted him and gave him what was coming to him by giving him the worst beating of his life. It only made it worse that Sakura had to decide to date the only man in that past situation who had had any sense at the time and who had ripped Obito off of him: Madara Uchiha.

  
  


There was a very short list of people that Kakashi could say he respected. For what Madara had done to take care of Obito following the loss of Rin, for doing everything that Kakashi had failed to do as a friend, Madara had made it onto that exclusive list. But even though Kakashi may have respect for the elder man, it didn't make him any more comfortable with Sakura being in a romantic relationship with him.

  
  


Despite his urgings for peace, the Uchiha MC president wasn't known for his kindness or forgiveness in regards to the Senju.

  
  


Kakashi sighed deeply as he continued onwards, digging into his pocket to fish out his keys as he tried to push away his thoughts. He forced himself to bury his emotions and his concerns, much in the same way that he had for the past twenty years. Or rather, his entire life, if he was being honest with himself. Sakura was a grown woman, she was a doctor now even, and it wasn't any of his business if Sakura decided to date Sasuke's uncle (despite how revolted Sasuke was and how baffled Kakashi had been by the development).

  
  


It didn't matter if her love life unintentionally forced him to confront old demons. That was his problem and not hers. He wouldn't dare bring up his concerns not only because it was her special day and because it was none of his business but because he knew that doing so would only result in her upset.

  
  


When Kakashi looked back up to search for his car in the parking lot, his key ring loosely held in his hand, his eyes fell upon the last people he had ever expected to see in that moment. He immediately dropped his keys as his feet became rooted to the ground, his eye widening as he stared at the two newcomers.

  
  


He supposed he shouldn’t be surprised. He always had the worst luck.

  
  


His gaze locked onto Obito and Madara as they both approached the MMA gym from the parking lot. Madara tucked a cell phone into the inner pocket of his cut while Obito fingered the edge of a well worn paperback he carried in his one remaining hand. Kakashi's one eye lingered on Obito, unable to look away.

  
  


It had been years since he had seen him. The Uchiha looked so drastically different that it was a shock that the man in front of Kakashi now and the boy he once knew were the same person. The man before him now was jaded and weathered. He looked as if he bore the weight of the world on his shoulders and was all the more furious because of it.

  
  


It didn't help that Obito refused to even look at him, a deep scowl marring his scarred features as he treated Kakashi like a ghost. Something he may as well have been, considering their past.

  
  


Madara, on the other hand, looked nearly the same as the last time the silver haired man had seen him. The man had aged, certainly (it had been twenty years since Kakashi's fight with Obito after all), but he was still very much the same. Despite the fine lines making their appearance on his face, the Uchiha still had the stature of a fighter. Despite the word president printed on a patch sewn onto his cut, the piece of leather still fit him the same. And despite years of a fighting an underground war, he still walked as proudly as he ever had.

  
  


The only real difference was the look that Madara gave Kakashi when their gazes met, his eyebrow quirking up as if he was curious to see how this interaction would play out. His eyes flicked to the side to land on Obito, the analytical expression remaining as he waited to see what reaction the younger Uchiha would have.

  
  


Kakashi couldn't find the words to say as the two Uchiha approached, taking the same sidewalk that he had taken to reach the gym. He continued to stare at Obito, his one functioning eye wide, as they drew closer.

  
  


The walkway was too small for three people, especially with Kakashi standing in the middle of the sidewalk in shock. When the two men passed, Obito roughly shoulder checked the silver haired man, pushing him out of the way. Kakashi stumbled and spun around from the force of the casual blow, whipping around to stare at the clan crest on the back of Obito's cut.

  
  


When the two men finally reached the entrance to the gym that Kakashi had just left and swung open the glass door to enter, the silver haired man was finally able to find his voice.

  
  


“Obito,” he called out, his voice sounding much more fragile than he wanted it to. As if he even knew what he wanted to sound like when finally facing with his once best friend who he had abandoned all those years ago - when finally facing the biggest demon from his past.

  
  


Obito looked to the side after hearing his name, finally making eye contact with Kakashi. His gaze was so full of venom and disgust, like he was staring at scum on his boot, that it took Kakashi's breath away. The words that he had desperately been trying to piece together in his head withered away in his throat at the look in his former friend's eye.

  
  


The sergeant at arms continued inside, not bothering to respond, and was followed by Madara. The elder Uchiha glanced back towards Kakashi as well, his expression impassive, before they both disappeared into the gym, leaving Kakashi alone once again in the middle of the sidewalk.

  
  


A place where he stood for a long few minutes, his eye glued onto the door leading into the MMA studio. His thoughts conflicted as he remained rooted to the ground, his mind an agonizing mess of shame and regret. He wondered if he should follow the two back inside, if he should try to force a confrontation with Obito, but knew that that would be a terrible idea. He would hate for his students to see what would come of their encounter and would hate even more for the past to repeat itself once again.

  
  


If Obito decided to lay into him again, Kakashi wasn't sure if he would have the will to fight back. After all, abandoning Obito and Rin was the worst mistake of his life and he deserved to be punished for it.

  
  


With shame rushing through him with the same thoroughness as his own blood, Kakashi leaned down to gather up his keys and returned to his walk to his car. The joy he had once felt at celebrating Sakura's success died as he was forced to once again confront the biggest mistake he had ever made.

  
  


* * *

  
  


Madara entered the MMA gym behind Obito, his body tense and his nerves on edge as he had prepared for the confrontation between Obito and Kakashi.

  
  


Madara had spoken to Obito before they had headed to the gym to meet with Sakura and Sasuke, concerned that a fight would break out between Obito and Kakashi if they had run into one another. He had informed his sergeant at arms that the silver haired man not only worked at the gym that Sakura and Sasuke trained at but that he was their sensei. That there was a high likelihood that they would run into Obito's once friend, especially with Sakura spending the day training at the gym with both Sasuke and Naruto.

  
  


_'I couldn’t care less. People who abandon their friends are worse than trash. He’s dead to me. He means less than nothing.'_

  
  


Despite Obito's comment, and despite the vehemence behind it, Madara had been concerned that blood would be spilled when the two were finally face to face again after nearly twenty years. After all, the last time the two men had met, Madara had to pull Obito off of Kakashi before he beat the man to death.

  
  


When Madara had spotted Kakashi leaving the gym at the same time that him and Obito were arriving, he was almost grateful. Grateful that if this confrontation were to happen, at least it would happen away from Sakura's eyes. He would hate for her to see the blood shed that would result from Obito sinking his claws into the man he once called his best friend.

  
  


In all honesty, Madara was surprised at how tame their first interaction in two decades had been. There was so much animosity that remained between the two, at least on Obito's side, that he was shocked that the encounter had ended so uneventfully. Sure, Obito had shoulder checked Kakashi and the silver haired man appeared to be in shock from the surprise meeting, but no fists had been thrown. Not only that, but only one word had been shared.

  
  


Even so, the elder Uchiha could feel the malevolence rolling off of Obito in waves as they entered the martial arts studio.

  
  


Before they could enter into the building farther than the front office, decorated with purchasable workout gear and a number of chairs arranged in a waiting area, Madara placed a hand on Obito's shoulder to stop him. Obito tilted his head to the side, indicating he was listening, but said nothing.

  
  


“Are you alright?” Madara questioned in a low voice, even though the gym was devoid of people.

  
  


“I'm fine. I told you, he's dead to me,” Obito replied in a clipped tone, his eye narrowing as he glowered at Madara over his shoulder.

  
  


“You could have fooled me with the venom coming off of you right now.”

  
  


“It's nothing to concern yourself with.” Obito's gaze returned to the hallway leading farther into the building as he visibly forced himself to release the tension in his shoulders. Madara could feel as the tenseness in his apprentice's shoulders slowly relaxed under his broad hand.

  
  


He watched as the younger Uchiha took a deep breath to regain his composure before patting him lightly on the shoulder once. “Very well then.”

  
  


This time, the Uchiha MC president took the lead, striding down the hallway and farther into the gym. As they entered, the hallway opened up into a wide open room. A number of doors leading into rooms for private lessons lined one wall while mirrors ran along the entirety of the other. The floor of the main room was covered in black and navy colored mats which formed a pattern on the floor. Large banners displaying the business's name and a variety of quotes hung along the walls in alternating colors.

  
  


One side of the room was dedicated to a variety of training equipment. A handful of punching bags hung along a large rack in a neat row and a dozen different kicking bags were shoved into the corner for storage. A few weight benches dominated a large portion of the space while a couple of racks were neatly stacked with a vast quantity of free weights. Three well worn muk yan jongs were tucked away against the wall, a couple missing one or two of their wooden pegs. The vast majority of the room, however, was dedicated to a roped off fighting ring.

  
  


A ring where he watched Sakura kick that Uzumaki, Naruto, across the face in a spectacular blow that forced him flying to the side.

  
  


The blond spun around once before shooting backwards, putting distance between them as he shook his head to clear his vision. His hands came back up as he scowled, Sakura already descending upon him once again. They traded heavy blows, Naruto obviously on the defensive as he was forced to block her rapid strikes. Every blow that he attempted was easily evaded by Sakura, her being far too fast from the blond’s comparatively sluggish strikes to hit.

  
  


Madara smirked as he watched his wild hellcat play with her food. She looked incredibly attractive in her tight workout gear, a loose tank top layered over a colorful sports bra and paired with a skin tight pair of bike shorts that hugged her curves. Her feet and her hands were wrapped tightly in white tape and her candy colored hair was pulled back into a functional ponytail. He had never gotten the opportunity to see her spar outside of an actual fight and seeing her so comfortable in the ring peaked his interest.

  
  


When Naruto threw out his next punch, Sakura grabbed onto his fist and forced him to follow through with the movement. Flipping around, she dragged his arm over her shoulder and pulled hard. Madara watched in glee as she threw Naruto over her back and onto to the ground like he was a rag doll.

  
  


The tall blond landed on the mat with a resounding thud and, even though he seamlessly rolled backwards and back onto his heels like a well trained fighter, it didn't stop him from getting the breath knocked out of him when his back hit the floor.

  
  


“What the hell, Sakura! You haven’t practiced for weeks and you’re still kicking my ass?!” he complained loudly, skittering backwards and back onto his feet when Sakura moved to engage him once again.

  
  


Sakura laughed aloud as she lingered back. “I could stop training for a hundred years and I’d still kick your ass!”

  
  


“She has a point, idiot,” Sasuke grumbled from his spot sitting on the edge of the ring, observing the two with disinterest.

  
  


The youngest Uchiha's gaze shot to Madara and Obito as they entered, Sasuke being the only one to notice the two visitors so far. He nodded silently in greeting, a gesture that was returned by the president and sergeant at arms, before he rose to his feet to properly greet his superiors.

  
  


“Shut up, asshole! She still kicked your ass to!” Naruto bellowed as he whipped around to shoot a glare at Sasuke.

  
  


“At least I can accept when I’m outmatched, unlike you. You should just accept you’ll never beat her. I have a chance but you’ll always be third best,” the young Uchiha taunted mercilessly, arching a brow at the boisterous blond as he walked towards Madara and Obito.

  
  


“You better shut your mouth, you-!” Naruto started to retort before he finally noticed Madara and Obito, watching in consternation as they clasped hands with Sasuke in greeting.

  
  


Sakura followed his gaze and, when her eyes fell upon Madara and Obito, she smiled warmly in greeting. Madara returned her smile with one of his own and Obito politely nodded.

  
  


“Hey, what the hell are you two doing here? This is our time with Sakura, butt out!” the blond declared, dramatically gesturing towards the hallway leading back outside.

  
  


“Naruto!” Sakura growled, taking a threatening step towards her friend, “You better shut your mouth before I make you!”

  
  


“But, Sakura...” the young man whimpered, deflating comically under Sakura's chiding.

  
  


“So this is the blond that I saw hop that fence at the bar all those months ago. You’ve got some pretty incredible legs to fly over that fence the way you did,” Madara greeted before his grin became devious, “Although it was a shame you got arrested with that performance…”

  
  


“I bet it looked impressive to an old man like you! You’re, what, sixty years old? What’s a pervy old man like you doing hanging around Sakura?” Naruto immediately shot back.

  
  


“Narutooo!” Sakura berated in warning, glaring daggers at the blond.

  
  


“What, Sakura? I’m just saying! He’s like double our age, shouldn’t he need like a walker or something by now?”

  
  


Madara nearly snorted in amusement, more entertained than offended. Despite the fact the young man was being so disrespectful, he couldn't find it in him to be upset by the crass, golden retriever-esque blond.

  
  


“I could be quadruple your age and still be able to throw you over that fence you ate shit on, labrador,” he taunted instead, his smirk widening.

  
  


“Yeah, right! I’d hate for you to hurt your bingo hand, old man!”

  
  


“Coming from the man who just made brown belt, hmm, what was it… this year?”

  
  


Naruto bristled. “I don’t need my black belt to take you on, perv!”

  
  


Madara laughed in response to the blond's threat, more entertained than aggressive. Obviously this young man had no idea who he was. Madara supposed it had been a great many years since he had been a part of the MMA circuit so he couldn't blame Naruto for not knowing when he was trying to start a fight that he could do nothing but lose.

  
  


“You couldn’t take me if there were a _dozen_ of you,” he jeered instead, glancing over at Sakura to find that she was still glaring at Naruto.

  
  


“I could take on a hundred of both of you old weirdos with a dozen of me!” Naruto retorted loudly.

  
  


Madara shook his head in amusement at the mental image of multiple copies of the blond, a litter of rambunctious golden retriever puppies immediately coming to mind. “Heh, what a motley crew that would be.”

  
  


“Huh?! M-m-motley crew?” the Uzumaki stuttered back.

  
  


“Like I said, you’re incompetent,” he replied simply, smirking at the younger man's confusion.

  
  


“He’s saying it’s pointless to merely increase the number of heads if they’re all empty,” Obito tacked on smartly, glaring up at the loud mouthed man scowling at them.

  
  


“Why don't you come up here and say that to my face!” Naruto barked, clearly understanding Obito's simplified insult while Madara's had flown over his head.

  
  


“Shut up, Naruto! Stop being rude to Dara and Obito!” Sakura roared, grabbing Naruto by the back of his shirt and tugging him off of the ropes.

  
  


“They started it!” he argued as he stumbled, pointing an accusing finger at the two elder Uchiha.

  
  


“ _You're_ actually the one who started it, dropout,” Sasuke supplied, his arms folded across his chest.

  
  


“Well, they're still old perverts who shouldn't be-!” Naruto started to shoot off before being interrupted by a vicious punch to the back of the head from Sakura. He dropped to his knees with a yelp, clutching the back of his head to soothe the sudden pain.

  
  


“I said shut up, you moron! You can go away if you can't control yourself!” she bellowed, her taped fists still raised threateningly.

  
  


“But Sakura...” the Uzumaki griped from the floor as he rubbed the back of his head.

  
  


She responded to his complaint with a warning glare, resulting in a pout from the blond. He grumbled to himself as he stood, still rubbing his head. He made sure to level the two visiting Uchiha with a dirty look before turning to leave, mumbling angrily under his breath as he slipped out of the ring and made his way towards the back hallway, presumably towards a storage area for their things.

  
  


Madara approached Sakura with a smile, leaving Obito and Sasuke to speak alone about club business. The president and his officers had decided to award Sasuke with more trust to see how he fared and were going to allow him to accompany Izuna on a weapons deal with the Hagoromo the next day. Obito wanted to brief the young man about what to expect and how to act as a prospect when interacting with the allied club.

  
  


“Having fun, hellcat?” Madara greeted with a cat like smile, leaning against the ropes that formed the ring in the center of the room.

  
  


Sakura met his smile with one of her own, sashaying up to the barrier to wrap her arms around his neck, beneath his wild mane of hair. His arms came down above the ropes to wrap around her waist, pulling her in closer.

  
  


“Maybe just a little,” she replied, leaning up to give him a greeting peck on the lips.

  
  


“You certainly don't hold back on them, do you?” he laughed, his hand slipping beneath her loose tank top and his fingertips teasing the edge of her tiny workout shorts.

  
  


“How would they learn anything if I did?” Sakura hummed back, leaning into his embrace as she gazed into his eyes.

  
  


“Sakura,” Obito's voice called out, interrupting them.

  
  


Sakura looked over to Obito who lingered near the edge of the ring, holding a well worn paperback out for her to take.

  
  


“Oh, you finished it already?” she asked with a friendly smile as she broke free from Madara's embrace, running her hand down his arm lovingly, “What did you think of it?”

  
  


“It's different than what I usually read. The addition of a powerful female lead was a welcome change,” the Uchiha answered thoughtfully as Sakura took the proffered book from his hands.

  
  


Sakura laughed. “Well, it's definitely a change from how Jiraiya's writes women. With the way he writes, they might as well be talking sex toys that say two things: 'save me' and 'don't stop'.”

  
  


While Obito nodded sagely, Sasuke whipped around to face them with a look of shock and horror. Even Madara's eyebrows furrowed as he blinked in surprise.

  
  


“What kind of book did you borrow from my old lady, Obito?” Madara demanded, unsettled.

  
  


“Oh shush, we're all adults. You've all read Make Out Paradise. It's a garbage book, admit it. I wanted to introduce Obito to some actual quality literature,” Sakura asserted, gesturing with the book that Madara just noticed was printed with a near illicit picture of a man and a woman embracing on the cover.

  
  


“You gave him _porn_?” Madara balked, his eyebrows seated high on his forehead.

  
  


“It's not porn, it's _romantic literature_. It's far more tasteful than Jiraiya's writings and the actual romance aspect of it is very appealing,” Obito argued before his attention returned to Sakura, “It was a good recommendation. I've already gotten the next in the series on my own.”

  
  


“Good! I'll have to introduce you to a few other of my favorite authors then. There's one author in particular that I really enjoy that I think you'll like. They include a fantasy aspect to their writing that is really unique and engaging,” she continued.

  
  


“Of course. You have good taste. I'll look forward to reading their work.”

  
  


“I'm not sure how to feel about you loaning my sergeant at arms smut,” Madara commented, a perturbed expression on his face.

  
  


“It's just a book, Dara,” Sakura replied with a smile, walking over to the edge of the ring to set her returned paperback on the floor.

  
  


With Sakura's back turned, Madara shot a look of disbelief at Obito which he responded with a shrug. Shaking his head, the elder Uchiha sighed silently and let it go. After the night he had caught Obito passed out in Sakura's lap after a breakdown over Rin, he realized that his anger at his cousin had been unfounded. He would trust him with his life and knew that the man would never betray him in such a devastating way as to try to go after his old lady.

  
  


Despite his trust in his apprentice, the thought of him and his old lady reading the same erotica discomforted him. He would never understand Obito's obsession with Jiraiya’s perverted novels but at least the one eyed Uchiha was getting to read something not blatantly sexist if Sakura was giving him recommendations. Maybe the young man would finally find an old lady of his own if he was learning the proper way to treat a woman...

  
  


“Alright, Sasuke. We have a lot to talk about. Let's go,” Obito declared, turning to face Sasuke who still bore an expression of confused revulsion.

  
  


The youngest Uchiha simply shook his head, as if to dislodge the grimace from his face, before muttering, “Yeah, sure...”

  
  


Sasuke dragged his hand down his face as he walked over to the edge of the ring and unhooked his cut from the post. After slipping the piece of leather back on, he shoved his feet into his shoes and checked to make sure his wallet, phone, and keys were still tucked into his cut. Turning back, he realized Obito hadn't even waited for him, the sergeant at arms already heading towards the door.

  
  


The scarred Uchiha waved to Sakura in goodbye, a friendly gesture which she returned, as Sasuke jogged to catch up. Both men exited the main room, making their way out to the parking lot and leaving Madara and Sakura alone.

  
  


Madara turned to face Sakura once again, gazing up at his hellcat. Like a lioness in her lair, her stance was loose and powerful as she stood in the ring like she owned it. A fact that her friends, which she had so thoroughly defeated earlier, could do nothing to refute. Just seeing the power barely hidden beneath the surface of her soft skin as she sauntered back over towards him made his imagination run wild.

  
  


He wanted to see more. More than that, he wanted to experience her strength for himself.

  
  


The Uchiha toed off his boots at the edge of the mat before emptying his pockets and depositing his things in a neat pile next to his shoes. He slipped his cut off of his shoulders, hanging it on one of the poles making up the corners of the ring, before rolling up his sleeves. When he ducked beneath the ropes and allowed himself into the ring, Sakura smirked and propped a fist on her hips. His gaze briefly dipped down to the curve of her waist and her muscled thighs, wrapped up in a tight pair of bike shorts.

  
  


“You looked absolutely stunning while you fought today,” he complimented as he began to prowl a slow circle around his woman, greedily taking in every inch of her fit body.

  
  


She didn’t move, instead tracking him with her eyes as he made a predatory circle around her. “Oh? Haven’t you gotten to see me fight quite a few times now?”

  
  


When he hit the point directly behind her where she’d have to turn to see him, he snuck up to her back. He brushed the stray hairs from her ponytail away from her ear to whisper against her skin, “I don’t believe I’ll ever tire of it.”

  
  


The way Sakura shivered and tilted her head, baring her neck to him, nearly pulled a growl from his throat. Instead of pressing his lips and teeth to her neck like he wanted, he slipped away from her once again.

  
  


“Would you care for a dance, love?” Madara hummed, his smile taking on a feral edge as he came around her other side, finishing his stalking circle.

  
  


Her smirk became cat like.

  
  


“Are you going to show me those holds you were talking about before…” she paused for a moment before purring, “Madara-sensei?”

  
  


His slowly hardening length twitched in his pants, his little hellion's address only amplifying his already growing arousal.

  
  


“I can show you a bit more than that…” Madara returned, his tone predatory.

  
  


“Then show me,” she demanded with a mischievous smile, her body falling into a familiar stance.

  
  


The Uchiha wasted no time in rushing forward, challenging his hellcat to a real spar. He knew better than to not take her seriously, knowing that his old lady had spent years training how to fight. Not only that, but he knew that she would be furious with him if he took her as anything less than a genuine opponent.

  
  


The sequence of punches he swung at her were avoided with incredible skill. She was graceful but, even more than that, she was fast. During the beginning of their spar, she threw out a series of powerful kicks during such brief openings that he was shocked she was able to take them at all.

  
  


Sakura quickly forced him on the defensive with her bone rattling strikes, pushing him backwards and demanding he block her strikes. He was impressed by the hidden power in her small body. When he was able to regain the offensive, he was further surprised by her incredible skill of evasion. She was impossible to hit, ducking around and dodging his every strike.

  
  


The thrill of fighting his hellcat appealed to him in more ways than one, something that, as her _sensei_ , he was eager to show to her.

  
  


When she threw her next punch, intending on forcing him back into the defensive, Madara startled her by instead grabbing onto her wrist. If he wanted to get anywhere in his spar with her, he needed to pin her down and keep her from dodging his every strike.

  
  


Twisting her roughly, he tangled her arm around her chest and dragged her back against his chest. He caught the elbow she was about to put into his rib cage to escape his hold, instead dragging her more fully against his body. His arm wrapped around his waist roughly, forcing her back so she could feel his hardening member against her rear.

  
  


Sakura's free hand gripped his forearm as she gasped in surprise, “Dara!”

  
  


Madara pressed his lips against her ear and heatedly growled, “Is that how you address your teacher?”

  
  


When he ground his hardness against her, he drew a groan from his lover.

  
  


“Ah!” she breathed, arching against him.

  
  


The Uchiha smirked against her skin before releasing her from his hold and pushing her away. She stumbled once before whipping around to glare at him. Her stare was less intimidating with the hot blush decorating her cheeks and her blown out pupils, her irises almost overcome with the blackness of her eyes.

  
  


When Madara crooked his finger at her, challenging her, the fiery fighter flew at him without a moment's notice.

  
  


Their spar continued as before, him blocking and parrying her powerful kicks and rapid punches and him attempting to lay a single hit on his evasive girlfriend. He kept being surprised by her speed and the hidden strength in her toned body and found that he enjoyed the challenge of facing her, even if his mind was preoccupied by... other things.

  
  


Based on the blush still decorating Sakura's cheeks and how her eyes kept dipping downward during their fight, he knew that she felt the same.

  
  


Sakura drew her leg high into the air and swung, intending on levelling him with another one of her bruising kicks. Instead of blocking her strike, Madara caught her foot against his ribs, a puff of air escaping his lungs as her blow rattled his chest. He caught the look of surprise decorating her features before he lurched forward, throwing her off balance and forcing her to fall backwards onto her back on the mats.

  
  


Hooking her knee over his shoulder, he straddled her other thigh and pinned her to the mat. With her legs spread open wide for him, he pressed his hips to hers so she could see what was waiting for her.

  
  


“You’re doing this to me on purpose, aren’t you?” Madara purred, grinding his fully hard cock against her core.

  
  


Sakura moaned at the sudden pressure of his hardness against her clit before forcing herself out of his pin with a foot against his shoulder. She rolled away, falling onto her hands and knees before shooting back up to her feet.

  
  


“No fair,” she groaned, glaring up at him in a way that was more passion than fight.

  
  


_Gods, she was beautiful._

  
  


Madara slowly stood, predatory, before she came at him once again.

  
  


He very much enjoyed this game they were playing, reveling in this erotic spar they were sharing. Despite the fact that her blows hadn't lost any of their ferocity, if the familiar ache in his bones was anything to go by, he could sense her her arousal growing with each passing moment.

  
  


Seeing his goddess of war alive with the fight and the focus in her eyes made it more and more difficult to resist the urge to pin her to the mats and fuck her already.

  
  


“Is this the best you’ve got?” Madara finally provoked, wolfishly grinning at his lover as she panted from the other side of the ring.

  
  


Sakura scowled at him, immediately rising to his challenge, and rushed forward. It was his turn to be amazed when she launched herself into the air and wrapped her thighs around his neck. Not even a second later, he got the breath knocked out of him when his back found the floor. It was only the years of training that allowed him to avoid the stunned state that anyone else would have found themselves in and to fight back against the arm bar she was trying to drag him into. Using sheer force alone, he overpowered her small weight, rising back to his knees and keeping his arm out of her grip.

  
  


His change in position forced her to shoot out her hands to catch herself lest she face-plant against the mats. Using her loss of control and her moment of precarious balance, he shoved her off of him and onto her stomach. Before she could skitter out of his reach, he lurched forward. Pressing his chest to her back, he grabbed onto her wrists on either side of her body. Off balance and in a difficult to defend position, he was able to overpower her struggles and pin her hands behind her back.

  
  


Panting, the Uchiha rose to his knees and dragged her back against him. He pulled on his lover's arms, forcing her rear to press firmly against his straining erection. Her answering groan was one of frustration and arousal.

  
  


“Gods you’re incredible,” Madara huffed with a smirk, gathering both of her wrists into one of his broad hands.

  
  


Sakura tried to struggle out of his grip once again but he held strong, keeping her trapped between his body and the mats. Grunting in annoyance, her struggling ceased as she instead chose to try to catch her breath.

  
  


Gazing down at the flushed warrior woman pinned beneath him, he realized he couldn’t hold himself back any longer. When he slid his free hand beneath her tank top, she took in a sharp intake of air. He dragged up her sports bra to grasp her breast, drawing a mewl from her.

  
  


“What are you-” she breathed, arching into his hand as her eyes fluttered shut.

  
  


“What you deserve for driving me crazy, little minx,” Madara growled in response, pressing his hardness against her rear and reminding her of what was awaiting her.

  
  


“What if someone sees?” Sakura panted.

  
  


“Is anyone coming soon?” he asked, rolling her nipple between his fingers.

  
  


She arched into his hand further, biting her lip to control her groan. She weakly struggled against his unyielding grip, only succeeding in rubbing herself more firmly against his length.

  
  


“Not for a while, but...”

  
  


“Then what’s there to worry about?” He questioned, dragging his hand down her chest and groping her through her tight shorts, his fingertips roughly caressing her clit.

  
  


This time Sakura moaned aloud before a ghost of a smile quirked the edges of her lip, “But this isn’t right, Madara-sensei…”

  
  


Madara paused for a moment, a feral smirk spreading across his face as his already hard cock throbbed in his jeans. His little hellcat knew exactly how to get to him...

  
  


“You know you’ve wanted this” he teased, playing along with their little game.

  
  


He rubbed her most sensitive point through her tight shorts more forcefully, her halfheartedly fighting against his grip. Her struggles, her moans, and her address appealed to some dark fantasy within him.

  
  


Pulling away from her core, he reached between their bodies to shove her shorts and panties down her thighs, his lover gasping in surprise. He pressed his hand between her legs, dragging his fingers across her glistening opening. He groaned aloud at how wet she already was.

  
  


“Gods, your body doesn’t lie, Sakura,” Madara growled, sinking two fingers deep into her sopping passage.

  
  


Sakura moaned in response, arching against his grip as he began to pump his fingers in and out of her hot channel.

  
  


“Ah! B-but sensei…” she stuttered, spreading her knees for him even as she expressed her hesitation.

  
  


“Tell me you want this,” he demanded as his grip on her wrists tightened and as he plunged his fingers deeper into her depths.

  
  


“I…” she gasped, rocking her hips against his hands.

  
  


“Don’t lie to me.” Madara removed his wet fingers from her opening to rub tight circles against her swollen clit.

  
  


She cried out, her thighs trembling as she tilted her hips and bared herself to him even farther.

  
  


“Do you want me inside of you, Sakura? Do you want me to fuck you?” He asked darkly, stroking her most sensitive nub.

  
  


“Please!” Sakura mewled, pressing back against him desperately.

  
  


“Please what?”

  
  


“Please, sensei, I want you to fuck me!” She begged.

  
  


“Mmm, good,” he purred, a wild smirk spreading across his lips.

  
  


Refusing to release her hands from his pin, Madara drew his hand away from her clit. Sakura whined from the loss of contact, rocking her hips to search for his touch once again.

  
  


He wasted no time in unbuttoning and unzipping his jeans, releasing his throbbing member. A bead of pre cum was already gathered at his tip, a droplet he smeared against his lover's dripping channel. She drew in a ragged breath as he slid the head of his cock against her opening, gathering her fluids onto his tip.

  
  


“Are you ready?” the Uchiha asked, pressing the head of his length against her slick folds until her passage just barely parted for him.

  
  


Sakura rocked her hips against him, trying to sink back against him and take his hardness deeper. He stopped her with a staying hand on her rear, keeping her in the moment of anticipation. He pulled at her wrists bound in his grip, forcing her shoulders backwards and her spine to arch sharply. She groaned aloud, her thighs trembling under the force of her need.

  
  


“Yes, sensei, please,” she moaned needily, her voice breathy.

  
  


Madara immediately sunk his throbbing length into her welcoming channel in one long thrust, letting her feel every thick inch of his member as he filled her to the brim. She cried out in pleasure, dropping her head forward as she pressed back against him.

  
  


“Ah, gods, Sakura,” he groaned in response, overwhelmed by the feeling of her hot, soaking walls clenching around him.

  
  


He pulled out of her, drawing in a breath through his teeth, before thrusting back into her depths. He immediately set a quick pace, roughly filling her needy passage. His free hand reached between her thighs, his fingertips settling on her clit. He drew circles around her pleasure point, drawing a broken moan from the woman taking his ceaseless pounding.

  
  


Sakura spread her legs for him as widely as she could with her shorts around her knees as he laid into her, burying his rock hard cock into her depths without mercy.

  
  


“Ah! Ah! Ma-! Sen-!” She cried out inarticulately.

  
  


“What was that?” he asked, his fingers slowing to a snail's pace around her clit even though he continued to fill her at his brutal pace.

  
  


Sakura struggled even harder against his grip, desperate for the friction against her most sensitive nub.

  
  


“Madara-sensei, please don’t stop!” She cried when she couldn’t struggle out of his vice like grip around her wrists.

  
  


“Good girl,” Madara praised as he began drawing rapid circles against her swollen clit once again, his fingers pressing hard against her pleasure point.

  
  


The sounds of her ecstasy filled the air of the martial arts studio, her moans of pleasure the only thing to overpower the filthy sound of skin on skin. He gazed down at his lover, how her hands were pinned by his long fingers and how her entire body jostled with the force of his thrusts. His eyes dropped down to her core and how her body was eagerly taking every throbbing inch of his length.

  
  


“You take it so well…” he groaned as he pounded into her, her soaking walls squeezing him tightly in response.

  
  


“Ahh, I’m so-I’m-I’m gunna-!” Sakura gasped desperately, her pleasure overwhelming her speech as she met each of his thrusts with ones of her own.

  
  


“Yes, love,” the Uchiha encouraged, flicking his hips as his cock brutally sunk into her over and over, his fingertips still drawing maddening circles around her clit.

  
  


She arched her back hard, searching for that much more friction, right before she came. She released a broken noise of ecstasy as she pressed backwards, desperate to get him even closer. Her tight passage quivered around his penetrating length as her body trembled in his arms.

  
  


Madara hissed in pleasure as he continued to fill her ceaselessly, his lover's walls clenching around him. Her sopping passage dripped the product of her arousal, her dew soaking the base of his member and seeping down his sack.

  
  


He removed his hand from her clit and, not releasing her arms from his hold, he grasped one of her forearms in each of his hands. She thrusted back against him, groaning aloud as he sunk further into her spasming walls.

  
  


Madara pounded into her ruthlessly, using Sakura's arms as a lever to drag her into his thrusts more roughly. His cock sunk into her even more deeply, slamming against her soft inner barrier. She cried out, panting loudly as he filled her more forcefully than before. Her walls continued to twitch around him as his rough treatment of her dragged out her orgasm even farther, his sack slapping against her pleasure point.

  
  


“Madara-sensei!” she sobbed, sounding like she was riding the line between pleasure and pain.

  
  


Her words were enough to send him over the edge. His fingers tightened around Sakura’s wrists as he used her arms to brutally drag her into his thrusts. He sunk his rock hard member into her once, twice, and then fully seated himself within her. He came hard, his hips twitching as he let loose a groan from deep in his chest.

  
  


Sakura moaned low and long in bliss, her hot, yielding channel clenching around his cock as he finished. Madara came in bursts, his length straining within her as he filled her with ropes of cum. He dragged her against him forcefully, sinking as far into her passage as he could as he finished dumping the last of his seed deeply within her.

  
  


He panted as he came down from his high, slowly realizing how roughly he had been squeezing his lover’s wrists. He released her, allowing her to fall against the mat onto her elbows and relax her harshly arched spine. They both took a moment to catch their breath.

  
  


“Devious little hellcat,” he breathed with a smirk, looking down at his panting lover laid out against the mats as he lovingly smoothed his hand across her thigh and rear.

  
  


Madara spread her cheek and his gaze flicked down to where his length was still buried deep in her folds, his member twitching inside of her, already eager to continue. Despite wanting very much to go again, he knew it was in their best interest to leave before anyone showed up.

  
  


“I don’t know what you’re talking about, sensei,” Sakura teased in response, squeezing her walls around him.

  
  


He rewarded her teasing with another flick of his hips, removing and sinking his still half hard member back into her. She gasped in pleasure, turning to glaring up at him from over her shoulder with a furious blush that made him want to fuck her again more than anything.

  
  


The wild haired Uchiha slipped out of her passage, dragging her panties and shorts up to cover her and catch his cum before it dripped onto the mats below them

  
  


“You’re going to be the death of me, woman,” he declared as he tucked his still half hard length back into his jeans and zipped up.

  
  


“You know, you've already helped me satisfy one of my long time fantasies,” Sakura giggled, properly pulling her panties and shorts to rest on her hips comfortably.

  
  


“Let me know when you’re ready to satisfy more,” Madara purred as he stood and held out his hands to help pull her to her feet. When she was upright, he pulled her into a kiss.

  
  


Sakura smiled against his lips, wrapping her arms around his shoulders to pull them closer together. They shared a dozen languid kisses, basking in the afterglow from their lovemaking, before Sakura finally pulled back with a dazed look in her eyes.

  
  


“We should probably get out of here before anyone shows up. There’s going to be a class soon,” she hummed, running her fingers through his unruly hair lovingly.

  
  


“Of course. I have plans for you tonight anyways,” he replied, pressing one more affectionate kiss to her lips.

  
  


She smiled sweetly. “I can't wait.”

  
  


When they finally pulled away from each other, Madara caught sight of Sakura's reddened forearms. He knew from experience that the marks would bruise. Eyebrows furrowing, he reached out to gently catch her hand in his.

  
  


“Sakura,” he started, lifting her wrists so they could both see the angry red, hand shaped marks on her arms, “Why didn’t you tell me I was hurting you? I would have stopped…”

  
  


Sakura laughed, embarrassed, as her other hand came up to brush her messy bangs out of her face. “I didn’t want you to stop. It felt too good.”

  
  


Madara frowned. “People are going to think that I abuse you...”

  
  


“Everyone will know better than that. And I’ll just wear a long sleeve, like I have to do when you leave your hickies on me anyways,” she teased in response, smiling as she sidled up next to him.

  
  


“Just tell me next time. I don’t want to hurt you,” he asserted, concerned that he had accidentally hurt his lover. Sparring was one thing but leaving hand shaped bruises on her arms was another.

  
  


Sakura smiled sweetly, wrapping her arms around his neck again and pressing a comforting kiss to his lips.

  
  


“I will, Dara.”

  
  


* * *

  
  


Naruto sat in the back room of the gym, hiding behind a row of lockers as panic and horror ran through him in equal doses.

  
  


Naruto's hand was plastered over his mouth and even he wasn't sure if it was to hide his alarm or to keep himself from throwing up. Not only had he stumbled across his best friend getting fucked by Sasuke’s definitely super, ultra perverted old man of an uncle, but he had caught them _role playing_ as well.

  
  


Gods, he had just forgotten his hoodie! He had just wanted to run in, grab it, and run out, not be forced to hear... _that._

  
  


‘ _Madara-sensei!_ ’

  
  


The blond shivered as revulsion slunk down his spine like tar. He dropped down onto one of the benches in the locker room as nausea made his mouth water and his head spin.

  
  


Okay, definitely to keep himself from barfing.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A muk yan jong is a wooden dummy using in some martial arts training.


	14. Savior

After spending the previous day sparring with her best friends and then, surprisingly, finally fulfilling her sensei fantasy, Madara had picked Sakura up from her MMA gym and taken her out to celebrate her graduating medical school. He had taken her to a nice dinner at the Akimichi's famous restaurant downtown (luckily they had stopped by her place to change into clothes that weren't soaked in sweat and the scent of sex), where they had eaten their fill of breads and pastas. Before leaving, he had bought a bottle of wine from their menu to take home. A bottle that, between the both of them, hadn't even lasted until the end of the night.

  
  


After getting wine drunk at her apartment, they had fallen into bed together in a haze of fuzzy warmth and gentle sex. After an exhausting day, she had fallen asleep in his arms, nude and contented, only to wake up late that next morning to his warm, broad hands lovingly mapping her body. It hadn't taken any coaxing for her to fall back into his arms for more love making although it had taken quite a bit of coaxing to finally drag them both out of her bed.

  
  


Neither of them had made it far. Instead, they took a warm shower together, this time a functional shower interspersed with sweet caresses and helpful hands (hands that only became that much more affectionate when Madara, to his horror, discovered the bruises splashed across Sakura's wrists from his too rough grip during their sensei play the day before).

  
  


Afterwards, they hardly had the desire or the energy to fully dress themselves, Madara only dragging his favorite fish print pajamas onto his hips and Sakura pulling one of his shirts over her head and a pair of panties onto herself.

  
  


After setting the coffee pot to brew another pot, they had fallen onto the couch together in a heap of limbs, neither finding the motivation to even gather a cup of coffee after the pot was finished brewing. Instead, they remained sprawled out on the couch, Sakura grabbing her newest novel from the coffee table in front of her to entertain herself with while Madara busied himself with replying to the messages and emails on his phone.

  
  


Sakura was happy to have a lazy day with her lover, especially after the hectic few weeks she had had. She was hard pressed to move from her comfortable nest on her couch, especially with Madara absent-mindedly massaging her foot as he tapped away at the screen of his phone with one hand. She allowed herself to get drawn into the story in her book as she basked in the dream like sensation of her cozy environment.

  
  


She was finally drawn out of her trance when she felt Madara's weight settle onto the couch behind her as he laid down next to her. Sakura hummed contentedly at the sensation of Madara's hand sneaking beneath her shirt to caress the skin of her belly, shivering when he began to press gentle kisses to the back of her neck.

  
  


It appeared he had finally gotten bored of playing with his phone and had decided to give her his full attention. She had thought that she would be able to get through a few chapters in her newest novel but it appeared she had overestimated the amount of time his phone would hold his interest.

  
  


“You're insatiable,” Sakura sighed happily as he continued to press affectionate kisses to her neck and shoulder, the heat of his bare chest seeping through her stolen shirt and warming her back.

  
  


“You're impossible to resist when you wear my shirt,” Madara teased, pulling at the neck of her too-large shirt to expose more of the skin of her shoulder to give attention to.

  
  


“Aren't you needed at the clubhouse today?” she hummed as she closed her book and set it off to the side. She rolled over to level him with a wry look before he leaned in close with a smirk.

  
  


“They can wait a little while longer,” he whispered against her mouth before pressing a kiss to her lips.

  
  


Sakura made a noise of agreement as she wrapped her arms around Madara's neck, her eyes sliding shut as she melted into his embrace. He moved so he hovered over her, one hand on either side of her body as he deepened their kiss. Their lips moved against each others', unhurried. Their affection was slow and meticulous, the lovers carefully building the passion between them.

  
  


Only to be interrupted by a knock at the door.

  
  


They broke their kiss with a curious look at Sakura's front door, both confused by the sudden interruption.

  
  


“You can ignore it,” Madara suggested, leaning down to place a peck on his old lady's forehead.

  
  


As if to shoot down his idea, another knock, this one louder and more impatient, sounded.

  
  


“Heh, looks like that's not an option,” Sakura chuckled as she rolled out of the Uchiha's embrace, running a hand down his arm affectionately as she did.

  
  


As she headed towards the door, she failed to notice Madara sit up on the couch or how his hand lingered near his cut, tossed over the back of the couch, where he had hidden his pistol.

  
  


After looking through the peephole, Sakura pulled back, surprised. She grabbed her sage green robe off of the coat rack next to the door, tugging it on and tying it shut before cracking open the door. She peeked out at her unexpected visitors, keeping the door mostly shut to hide her half naked boyfriend from prying eyes.

  
  


“Long time no see, forehead!” Ino greeted with a wide smile from the other side of the door, her arms filled with a bouquet of flowers and a delicious smelling box decorated in purple wrapping paper.

  
  


Sakura peeked out even further, peering around Ino and spotting Hinata, Tenten, Temari, and Karin behind her, their arms all full of boxes and grocery bags. Sakura's mouth popped open as a realization hit her.

  
  


“Oh shit, that was today,” Sakura blurted, still hiding behind the door.

  
  


“Way to forget about all of us, beast,” Karin scolded, her finely manicured eyebrow quirking up as a smirk tugged at the corner of her painted lips, “What, are all those studies fogging your huge head? I thought you, y’know, _graduated_?”

  
  


“Yeah, yeah, fuck you to, psycho,” Sakura greeted, shaking her head in amusement at her rough-around-the-edges friend, “Er, just, uh, let me…”

  
  


“Well, what’s the hold up!? We're carrying all kinds of shit, let's get a move on!” Temari, who carried an armful of towering pizza boxes, announced as she barged her way in.

  
  


Sakura squeaked as her friends pushed their way into her apartment, the pink haired woman shooting her curious lover an apologetic look as she stumbled out of the way of the door. She made sure that the sleeves of her robe kept the accidental bruises on her wrists hidden. If her friends discovered the marks and got it in their heads that Madara was abusing her, even he wouldn't make it out of her apartment alive.

  
  


“Oooh,” Temari gasped as she came face to face with a shirtless Madara still lounging on the couch.

  
  


Madara immediately tensed under the gazes of the five strange women.

  
  


“Er… Ladies,” he greeted awkwardly, a smile that was more like a grimace spreading across his lips.

  
  


“Holy crap, forehead! He’s almost as sexy as Sasuke!” Ino declared loudly, Madara's expression contorting even farther.

  
  


Sakura's returning cry of “He's way sexier than duckass!” and Karin’s growl of “Sasuke’s way sexier than his old man of an uncle!” overlapped one another as the other women filed in.

  
  


“He’s _what_!?” Sakura and Karin both yelled, whipping around and glaring at one another for insulting each others' boyfriends.

  
  


While the other invading women openly checked out the Uchiha, Hinata was the only one with any sense of respect. She politely averted her eyes from the male to afford him some vague sense of privacy among the sudden horde of intruding women.

  
  


“Well, I’d say that’s my cue,” Madara quickly decided, hurriedly standing from the couch. Scooping his cut, which contained his pistol, off of the back of the couch, he made a beeline into Sakura's bedroom to gather his clothes and his things.

  
  


With the Uchiha finally gone, the women surged farther into Sakura's home and began to deposit their supplies on the living room table and in her kitchen. As Tenten and Temari dropped off the pizzas and a twelve pack of beer on the coffee table, Ino headed into the kitchen to find a place for the bouquet of flowers.

  
  


“Hi, Sakura,” Hinata politely interrupted, breaking the glaring contest between Sakura and Karin. Karin rolled her eyes before meeting with Tenten and Temari in the living room and deposited a six pack of craft beer onto the quickly filling table.

  
  


“Hey, Hinata. I'm glad you guys could come out. I'm sorry I forgot about today...” Sakura apologized, fidgeting with the hem of her sleeve, embarrassed.

  
  


“This is your party, so I think you get some leeway,” Hinata replied with a gentle smile, adjusting the grocery bag filled with two liter soda bottles and the gift wrapped box in her arms, “Congratulations on graduating. We made sure to stop at that pizzeria on the east side that you like as a present.”

  
  


“Oh, you're the best! Did you get the cheese filled crusts?” Sakura asked, an excited smile spreading across her lips.

  
  


“We remembered,” Hinata answered with a bell-like laugh as she made her way further into Sakura's home to drop off the items she had brought.

  
  


“So you’re dating Madara Uchiha?” Tenten questioned curiously from her spot lounging on the couch next to Temari, both of them already armed with fresh beers in their hands.

  
  


Karin curiously looked on with a quirked eyebrow, popping the top off of her favorite craft beer with the bottle opener on her keys.

  
  


“Yeah, how do you know him?” Sakura replied, surprised that her friends were aware of who Madara was.

  
  


“Are you kidding? He’s one of like five people in the region that is ranked as high as he is. He’s pretty much a local legend, right next to Hashirama Senju, Gai-sensei, and a couple others,” Tenten explained excitedly, leaning forward in her seat in the way she always did when she talked about martial arts.

  
  


“He's still pretty famous even though he doesn't fight in the tournaments anymore,” Temari added on, still lounging comfortably on Sakura's well worn couch, “Neither him or Hashirama fight anymore though. Not since they were paired to fight each other a while back.”

  
  


“A problem that could have escalated into a very dangerous situation, as one can imagine,” Madara tacked on, finally emerging from Sakura's bedroom, now fully dressed in fresh clothes.

  
  


Sakura noticed that he had changed into one of the outfits that he had left behind in her closet. A part of the small hoard of his clothes that were slowly accumulating in her closet the more and more he stayed over at her apartment.

  
  


“I don't know, it would have sold a lot of tickets to see you two beat each other to death,” Temari joked darkly, her humor just as dry and macabre as ever.

  
  


“Very true,” Madara agreed with a thoughtful nod, “Although I was more concerned about the lives of those who would attend the fight rather than my own in the ring.”

  
  


“Ah, good point,” the blonde conceded with a shrug, taking a pull off of her beer.

  
  


Sakura leveled her boyfriend with an apologetic frown. “I'm sorry, Dara... I completely forgot that they were throwing me a congratulations party today.”

  
  


Madara just smiled. “That’s fine, love. You have fun. Will I still get you tonight?”

  
  


“Yeah, you will. I won’t drink so I can make it to the clubhouse.”

  
  


“Alright, I’ll see you then,” the male replied, leaning in to press a farewell kiss to his old lady's lips.

  
  


“Until then,” he continued, turning to face the crowd of women, “It was, er, nice meeting all of you. I hope the next time is a little less... revealing.”

  
  


Temari snorted in amusement, earning a scolding kick from Tenten at her side, before stating, “You as well.”

  
  


“Take care! And I hope you come back into the ring someday!” Tenten declared with a grin, drawing a smile from Madara as well.

  
  


“It was nice meeting you. I'm sorry for the intrusion,” Hinata apologized gently.

  
  


“Tell Sasuke I said hi, Mr. President,” Karin replied with a smirk, giving the Uchiha a lazy salute with her beer.

  
  


“And tell the single men in your family that I'm around!” Ino piped up from the kitchen as she worked to find a vase to put her flowers in.

  
  


Madara shook his head in amusement as he turned to leave, giving Sakura one last parting smile before closing the door behind him.

  
  


“Well, that was a horrible way for you to meet Madara,” Sakura started, decidedly ignoring Ino's call of “That was a great way to meet him!” that sounded from her kitchen.

  
  


“I'm going to go put on actual clothes now,” Sakura continued, striding into her bedroom.

  
  


“But we were all loving seeing your panties, beasty!” Karin taunted before sipping at her expensive beer.

  
  


Sakura glanced down at her robe, eyes wide, before she realized that Karin was just teasing.

  
  


“Shaddap, you can't see my underwear!” Sakura yelled in return from the hallway as she entered her bedroom.

  
  


After slipping into a long sleeve top and a pair of shorts (and woefully tossing her stolen shirt into the laundry hamper), she returned to the living room to find all of her friends already gathered on the couch. Temari, Tenten, and Karin already had slices of pizza in their hands while Ino sipped on a diet soda. Hinata was the only one who had waited for Sakura to arrive, the dark haired woman passing Sakura a soda as she sat down on the couch between her and Ino.

  
  


As Tenten jabbed at the remote to the satellite TV with a glare, trying to figure out how to bring up the pay per view, Sakura's eyes fell upon the suspicious shaped present that she had noticed strapped across the brunette's back when her friends first arrived.

  
  


“Damn, Sakura. So how did you do it?” Ino commented with a smirk, drawing Sakura's attention.

  
  


Sakura's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “Do what?”

  
  


“Hook a guy like him? Duh. His abs are perfect,” Ino sighed dreamily.

  
  


Sakura glared at her oldest friend before grunting, “Stop ogling my boyfriend, pig.”

  
  


“What can I say, all those Uchiha are _gorgeous_. I want one of my own to! I mean you and psycho both have one, why can’t I?” Ino scoffed, gazing at Karin from the corner of her eyes.

  
  


“You probably scare them all away the second they hear your shrill voice, harpy,” Karin taunted in return, a smirk tugging at the edges of her cherry lips.

  
  


“Sasuke must be going blind to have ever looked at you twice, rat’s nest!” Ino shot back, jabbing a well manicured finger at the red head.

  
  


“Knock it off you two! We’re here to watch Tenten and me fight, not you two twigs!” Temari reprimanded, crushing her already finished beer can in her hands before reaching into the twelve pack at her feet to grab a fresh one.

  
  


Sakura laughed, amused by the antics of her friends. “I thought this was supposed to be to celebrate me graduating?”

  
  


“That to. No shame in killing two birds with one stone,” Tenten answered shamelessly, “Besides, you're always so busy that this is the only time we'll all see each other for another few months.”

  
  


“I guess you have a point. Although I know it's just because you and Temari want to show off,” the pink haired woman guessed.

  
  


“That to!” Tenten repeated, grabbing another slice of pizza from the open box in front of her.

  
  


“Sakura?” Hinata started.

  
  


“Hmm?”

  
  


“I’m really happy for you. You’ve seemed a lot happier lately and if Madara makes you this happy, he must be a good person,” the dark haired woman pointed out, drawing a warm smile from new doctor.

  
  


“Thank you, Hinata,” Sakura thanked sincerely before turning to face the others, “See? That’s the proper, decent, _sane_ thing to say. You should take notes, you damn lunatics.”

  
  


“Hey, you shouldn't go throwing around insults until you see what we got you, Dr. Haruno!” Tenten teased as she grabbed the suspiciously shaped, intricately wrapped present from the floor and foisted it into Sakura's hands.

  
  


“We all got you presents to congratulate you,” Hinata explained simply, revealing the reasoning behind the presents.

  
  


“That's so sweet, everyone. You didn't have to do that...” Sakura stated as she gazed at the present in her hands, trying to figure out where to start to open to artfully wrapped gift.

  
  


“Yes we did. Now hurry up and open your presents so you can get to mine already!” Karin affirmed impatiently.

  
  


Sakura smiled, embarrassed by the gifts, before shyly beginning to tear off the wrapping paper from the present Tenten got her. A present that was beginning to look suspiciously like a sword and... yes, of course it was a sword.

  
  


“Tenten... Did you really buy me a sword?” Sakura asked in disbelief, unsheathing the blade to see if the katana in her hands was real. When sharpened metal glinted back at her, she found that it was, in fact, very much real.

  
  


“No, it’s from my collection, I thought you’d like it,” Tenten answered, a undertone of distress in her tone.

  
  


“You're actually giving me one from your collection?” Sakura gasped, her viridian gaze snapping up to the brunette as shock that the weapon's master would part with any of her toys rushed through her.

  
  


“It's not every day that your friend gets her PhD,” Tenten shrugged off, her cheeks flushed as she fingered the edge of her paper plate.

  
  


“Thank you so much. It must have taken a lot to part with one of your pieces. It's beautiful...” Sakura thanked sincerely, sheathing the blade with a dull click and lovingly setting the weapon aside, “This really means a lot to me.”

  
  


Tenten's returning smile was bright even if she was interrupted by Ino before she could reply.

  
  


“My turn!” Ino cheered as she passed Sakura the delicious smelling box from before, “You already saw the flowers, I put them in that hideous vase with the frogs on it and put them on your kitchen table.”

  
  


“Hey, that vase came with flowers that Naruto got me for my birthday a few years back,” Sakura defended as she began tearing off the wrapping paper of the warm box.

  
  


“That explains it then,” the blonde chuckled, shaking her head.

  
  


When Sakura tore off the wrapping paper and saw the Akimichi family's logo on the side of the box, she hurriedly flipped off the lid to her present. She drooled at the sight within, nearly moaning at the sight of the Akimichi clan's signature fudge brownies. The incredibly rich kind that Chouji made at his bakery and the kind that melted in your mouth.

  
  


“Ohh, you spoil me,” she gushed as she immediately popped one of the treats into her mouth, “I even went to Chouza's restaurant last night to.”

  
  


“Did you try the champagne shrimp and pasta this time?”

  
  


“Er, I uh... I got spaghetti.”

  
  


“Ugh, you have such poor taste in food. Try expanding your horizons a bit, forehead!” Ino huffed, crossing her arms across her chest as she leaned back against the couch.

  
  


“Hey, Sakura. Trade you,” Temari offered, pointing at the box of brownies in Sakura's hands as she twirled a envelope in her between her fingers.

  
  


“Gladly,” Sakura agreed, trading the box of brownies for the envelope.

  
  


She tore open the top of the paper and peered within, grinning at the season pass to the MMA tournaments. Based on the color of the pass, it was for the whole year.

  
  


“Oh wow, is this for all year?” Sakura asked as she reached within, surprised to find two passes instead of just one, “Oh, there's even two!”

  
  


“Yup!” Temari confirmed through a mouthful of brownie as she passed the box to Tenten who greedily snagged up a slice of brownie, “For you and your boyfriend. I figured it'd be something to actually get you out of your apartment, hermit.”

  
  


“Hey, I go out plenty,” Sakura retorted, pouting at her friend.

  
  


“Yeah, to go fuck your biker boy toy and go to work,” Temari teased, drawing a hot blush from Sakura.

  
  


“I still can't believe you're dating Sasuke's _uncle_ , you pervert,” Karin laughed, presenting Sakura another envelope with an elegant flourish, “Shouldn't you be dating someone closer to your age? You know, like Itachi or Shisui? I thought Shisui had a crush on you.”

  
  


“He did? Huh, that's the first I'm hearing of it,” Sakura replied as she became thoughtful, wondering if that was the reason behind why he had been acting so standoffish when she first came to the club as Madara's old lady, “Doesn't matter either way. I'm very happy with Madara, he treats me really well. He's the first guy whose ever made me this happy.”

  
  


“Doesn't change the fact he's like twenty years older than you,” Karin retorted with a crooked smirk.

  
  


“I think it's sexy,” Ino sighed dreamily, smiling widely, “Older men are hot. And you said there were more single Uchiha?”

  
  


Sakura snorted out a laugh, “You guys are freaks.”

  
  


Tearing open the envelope, she wasn't surprised to find a beautifully hand drawn coupon for a free tattoo of any size and color at Karin, Suigetsu, and Jugo's tattoo shop in Oto.

  
  


“Nice. What if I wanted a full color back piece, huh? Neck to ass?” Sakura inquired with a grin.

  
  


“Then I'd finally get to put more color on you! All you have is that tiny little cherry blossom on your hip!” Karin exclaimed, pointing a black painted nail at where Sakura's one tattoo was hidden beneath her shirt, “Besides, your old man is covered. Don't you want to match him as his old lady?”

  
  


“You just want to hurt me more, don't you?” Sakura leveled her with a knowing look.

  
  


Karin huffed out a laugh, dropping her head to hide her grin behind her curtain of fiery red hair. “What's the shame in that?”

  
  


“Thank you, Karin,” Sakura laughed, shaking her head even as she contemplated what tattoo she would want to get from her friend.

  
  


Hinata, who had waited patiently until last, handed her a gift wrapped box with a gentle smile. “I know it's not very fun, but I hope this will be helpful when you're working.”

  
  


Sakura unwrapped the box and opened it, finding a brand new, high end stethoscope within. The sage green instrument had an ID tag already clipped onto it, a single cherry blossom printed onto the decoration.

  
  


“Oh, this is gorgeous! This will be very helpful. I've had the same old one since I graduated nursing school. And this one is so pretty. Thank you!” Sakura genuinely thanked, carefully rewrapping the delicate instrument and returning it into its box for safe keeping.

  
  


“I'm happy to hear it,” Hinata replied, relieved, before adding on, “Congratulations, Sakura. We're all very proud of you for finally accomplishing your dream. You're going to be an incredible doctor.”

  
  


Sakura felt like she could cry under Hinata's praise but was, thankfully, interrupted by the eldest of the group of women.

  
  


“Yeah, yeah, congratulations, Dr. Haruno. Now let's watch some fights!” Temari cheered, snatching the remote from Tenten's hands and earning a rough shoulder butt from the brunette.

  
  


Sakura's smile warmed as she settled onto the couch with her friends, grateful for the distraction lest she start to tear up from her happiness. As Temari pressed play on the fights and as both her and Tenten emerged into the ring on screen, Sakura's eyes drifted across those sitting on her couch. It had been so long since she got to see them all and she hadn't realized how dearly she had missed the women's presence in her life until they were all gathered together once again.

  
  


In that moment, she made a promise to herself that she would make sure to spend more time with her friends. And not just her girlfriends but Sasuke and Naruto as well. It seemed like her life had been inundated with Uchihas the moment she got involved with Madara and realized that spending time with people outside of the MC was something that brought a great amount of relief to her heart.

  
  


When the box of brownies finally made its way back to her, only one of the treats left in the box, she couldn't even find it in her to be upset. Instead, she just shook her head in amusement, finishing off the final brownie before grabbing a slice of pizza from the box on the coffee table.

  
  


Only to promptly cringe in sympathy as she watched Tenten take a incredibly painful looking roundhouse kick to the face from Temari on screen.

  
  


“Holy crap!” Sakura yelped through her mouthful of brownie, immediately sucked into the fight on screen as Temari remorselessly cackled from her spot on the couch.

  
  


* * *

  
  


After an afternoon spending time with her friends, something she hadn't realized she had sorely needed, Sakura felt as if a weight had lifted off of her shoulders. Spending time with her closest companions, without the ever pressing concern of a secret life or hidden crimes, was the reprieve she had needed.

  
  


She loved Madara with all her heart. She also loved the Uchiha family like her own (if not more). The amount of secrecy that was weaved into all of their interactions and the hidden war the club waged, however, was a heaviness that always weighed at the back of her mind. Spending time with people who had no deadly secrets, who lived no secret lives, was a welcome reprieve.

  
  


When Sakura finally found herself back at the Uchiha clubhouse, she had felt recharged. Despite being back with the Uchiha MC and with the weight of her concern still a heavy cloud that lingered around their interactions, she was able to relax and enjoy herself. She was able to put aside thoughts and fears of their war and the secrets they kept from her enough to enjoy the interactions she shared with her lover's family.

  
  


Sakura sat in her customary place in Madara's lap, both of them perched on one of the couches that made up the makeshift living room in the clubhouse. While she refrained from drinking, having driven her stick shift jeep over from her apartment, the trio Izumi, Itachi, and Shisui happily sipped at their own glasses.

  
  


After hearing from Ino earlier that day that Shisui had fostered a crush on her, it made it easier for Sakura to understand why the curly haired Uchiha had been acting so standoffish. It seemed now, however, that his displeasure had dissipated, or at least he no longer showed it. He drunkenly and happily conversed with her, even with her perched on the Uchiha MC president's lap.

  
  


Izumi acted much the same as always, her cheerful personality a warm light in the generally stoic group of Uchihas. Sakura noticed that Itachi, however, seemed somewhat on edge. She didn't pay it any mind, knowing that his unease more than likely stemmed from the fact that Sasuke wasn't present at the moment.

  
  


“I can't believe you're going to be making a song with Tayuya and the Sound Four! I can't wait to hear it,” Sakura commented with a wide smile, excited for her friend.

  
  


Izumi grinned widely, tapping her feet on the ground in an excited motion. “Me either! I never thought they'd get back to me when I sent them my offer but it seems they liked my music! Tayuya herself even commented on that song where I included the flute.”

  
  


“Oh? What did she say?”

  
  


“She said, 'fucking kickass',” Izumi squeaked, delighted.

  
  


Sakura laughed aloud, throwing her head back in amusement. “Of course she would. She's so awesome.”

  
  


“See, I told you someone would notice all the hard work you have been doing! You're so talented! Don't forget about us when you're famous,” Shisui crowed, throwing an arm around Izumi's shoulders and dragging her into a hug.

  
  


“As if!” Izumi hooted back, leaning into his embrace.

  
  


“We're all very proud of you, Izumi,” Madara complimented with a smile, absentmindedly running his fingers across the soft material of the unzipped hoodie Sakura had thrown on over her long sleeve.

  
  


“Thanks, boss,” the female Uchiha replied, giggling as Shisui refilled her glass from the bottle sitting on the table in front of them.

  
  


“So when are you going to be meeting with-” Sakura began before being interrupted by the jarring sound of the front door to the clubhouse slamming open.

  
  


“Goddamnit, fucking move! Shit!” Sasuke roared, an vividly clear undertone of panic in his command.

  
  


Sakura immediately whipped around to face Sasuke's voice, his form hidden behind the crowd in the clubhouse. Concern immediately shot through her after hearing the very real alarm in her best friend's tone. Her action was mimicked by all of the officers sitting around her, Madara carefully moving her off of him as he began to stand.

  
  


Sakura rose to her feet, slipping off of her lover's lap. The entirety of her attention was focused on the shifting crowd so, when the Uchiha's and hangarounds finally parted and revealed Sasuke, Obito, and Izuna, she gasped in shock.

  
  


Sakura's eyes took in the scene in front of her, her lips parted and eyes wide. She saw how Sasuke, who scowled deeper than she had ever seen, had Izuna's arm thrown over his shoulder. He carried the older male, Obito pushing through the crowds of Uchiha and hangarounds alike and making a path for them both. Her eyes flicked across Izuna and how he heavily leaned into Sasuke, clutching his side as he grimaced. Blood oozed from in between his already stained fingers, soaking the front of his shirt.

  
  


What had happened?

  
  


The relaxed atmosphere from before now long gone, she watched, stunned, as Obito swept all of the glasses from one of the tables in the clubhouse onto the floor with a loud crash. Sasuke carried Izuna over to the table before dropping him on it, the elder Uchiha cussing as he was jostled.

  
  


As Izuna laid out across the table with a grimace of pain, Madara was already surging forward.

  
  


“What happened?” Madara growled in a fierce tone that Sakura had never heard come from her lover before.

  
  


“The fucking Senju happened, of course,” Izuna grunted from the table, scowling at his brother.

  
  


As Sakura watched the scene unfold in front of her, her heart raced in her chest. Her focus narrowed until only the space where Izuna, Madara, Sasuke, and Obito lingered occupied her focus.

  
  


She failed to notice as Kagami, Izumi, and Shiui worked together to force anyone who wasn't an officer out of the clubhouse. Even patch holders were removed with a brief apology given at the treatment quickly followed by a demand to keep the outsiders silent.

  
  


Sakura didn't even notice as Itachi pulled Sasuke away from Izuna's side and how the youngest Uchiha sagged against a nearby table like he had lost his will to stand.

  
  


Her hands shook at her side, her mouth hanging open in shock, as she stared at Izuna laid out on the table.

  
  


There was so much blood...

  
  


Sakura had spent so much time around the Uchiha MC but she had never seen anything like this. She had heard stories from Sasuke. She had heard a confession from Madara. She had even had her suspicions when Shisui had refused to talk about his sudden limp.

  
  


To be faced with Izuna, bleeding out on a table in the clubhouse, felt like a punch to the gut.

  
  


Fueled by the adrenaline flooding her veins and her years of training, Sakura rushed forward. Even though her heart thundered in her chest and even though she rapidly drew breath into her lungs, she ran to Izuna's side, needing to help somehow.

  
  


“Izuna, move your hand, I need to see,” she commanded as she came to a stop at his side.

  
  


The vice president hissed as he pulled his hand back, Sakura ripping up the edge of his shirt to gaze at the wound. Even through the blood coating his side and concealing the injury, she could recognize that wound anywhere.

  
  


Izuna had been shot...

  
  


Blood gushed from the wound without the pressure of the Uchiha's hand. Grimacing, Sakura ripped her unzipped hoodie off of her shoulders and balled it up. She jammed it up against the wound, applying enough pressure to staunch the bleeding but dragging a cry of agony from Izuna as she pressed down far more heavily than he had.

  
  


“He needs surgery. He's bleeding too much, he's not going to make it if we leave him like this. We need to get him to the hospital!” Sakura urged, frowning in dismay as blood soaked her jacket and began to seep in between her fingers.

  
  


Izuna's blood stained hand shot up and he roughly grabbed her upper arm, leaving a macabre handprint on her long sleeve shirt. His grip was bruising and demanding even though his hand trembled.

  
  


“No. Hospitals,” he choked out even with his face twisted in pain.

  
  


Sakura's wide eyed gaze flicked up to Madara and Obito, the Uchiha MC president scowling as he gazed down at his younger brother. His attention couldn't be drawn away from the mortal wound in his sibling's side. Obito frowned at Sakura's pleading gaze.

  
  


“He can't go to the hospital, Sakura,” Obito began to explain in an almost gentle tone that he reserved for her, “Izuna got shot. If he goes to the hospital, the police are going to get involved. He already has a strike. If the cops find out what happened, he could go to prison. We could all go to prison.”

  
  


It was unspoken that they would all rather die than be locked up. Izuna would rather die here than go to jail or to bring down his family.

  
  


“Hospitals are out of the question,” Obito finished.

  
  


Sakura stared down at Izuna with wide eyes, her mind racing as she took in the situation. Izuna's face was contorted in pain, his eyebrows furrowed deeply, and the hand that wasn't still gripping her arm was trembling. His normally light skin was sickly pale from the blood loss. She could see how his chest rapidly rose and fell with his frantic breathing and she could feel his irregular pulse underneath her hands. He had already lost too much blood. If he lost much more, he would go into shock and die on this table.

  
  


She looked up, her gaze falling upon Sasuke wilted against a nearby table. He stared at the blood coating his hands with a fearful expression on his face. She hadn't seen that look since they were just children fighting those Oto kids. When they had watched Naruto sag like a puppet whose strings had been cut after his head had been smashed against the pavement with a haunting and sickening crack. She hadn't seen that expression since they both had thought that they had watched Naruto die.

  
  


Itachi and Izumi were at Sasuke's side, their attention drifting from between the young Uchiha they were trying to comfort and their vice president dying on the table in their clubhouse.

  
  


She spotted Kagami and Shisui rushing around the building, locking doors and closing blinds as they went, trapping them all in the clubhouse and keeping everyone else out. Even as they worked, she could see the panic etched into their features.

  
  


Sakura's eyes flicked back to Obito and, even being the stoic man he was, she could see the concern in his expression. She could recognize the look of understanding on his face and knew that the sergeant at arms also knew that Izuna was dying.

  
  


Finally, her gaze fell upon Madara. He appeared calm on the surface but the tension in his shoulders, how his hands were fisted at his sides, and the line between his brows betrayed him. More than anything, she could see the fear in his eyes, hidden behind a false layer of composure. He was watching another one of his brothers die in front of him.

  
  


This would break him.

  
  


Sakura looked back down at the wound beneath her hands as a thousand scenarios played in her head. Her heart raced as her head swam with all of the possibilities. All of the thousands of endings to the situation in front of her. Izuna dying. Sasuke blaming himself. Madara losing his mind after losing yet another brother. More bloodshed. A war that only got worse. A war that never ended. More deaths in the clubs. Obito dying. Sasuke dying. Madara dying.

  
  


She pressed down on the cloth staunching Izuna's wound harder, Izuna's hiss of pain drawing her back into the present. Her palms warmed as more blood seeped from out of the cloth and soaked her hands.

  
  


Her hands.

  
  


Her eyes widened.

  
  


As her thoughts raced, one single realization shot through her like a bolt of lightning. Everything became clear as one thought coalesced in her mind, whisking away her fear. Her heart still pounded but her panic faded. Her thoughts raced but her mind was no longer muddled. The trembling in her hands stopped as one thought cleared away the fog in her mind.

  
  


_I can help._

  
  


Sakura had trained her whole life to be a surgeon, to be a healer. She had spent years as a nurse and years training to become a doctor. She was going to be a surgeon. She may have never performed a surgery like this, but it appeared that Izuna would now be her first case.

  
  


She knew what to do, she knew how to save his life. She would not fail. She wouldn't let Sasuke or Madara or any of her friends fall apart. She wouldn't let this war get worse, she wouldn't allow those she loved to be put in even more danger.

  
  


Most of all, she would not let Izuna die.

  
  


“I need you to grab whatever medical supplies you have. _Anything_. First aid kits, sewing kits, alcohol, gloves, towels, bottled water, anything you have!” she commanded, immediately taking control of the situation.

  
  


The gazes of everyone in the room shot up to her in shock. It was only a heartbeat later before everyone flew into action, rushing around the clubhouse to gather the supplies that Sakura had demanded.

  
  


As they worked, Sakura focused on her new patient. She needed to assess his wound, to figure out what she needed to do.

  
  


Freeing one bloodied hand, she pressed her fingertips against his belly, feeling for firmness. She could feel how the muscles in his stomach clenched with the pain and with her prodding but could feel that his abdomen was still soft. She thanked her lucky stars, unbelievably grateful that the bullet hadn't perforated his bowels. She wasn't sure that even she could help if he had sustained such a traumatic injury.

  
  


She quickly leaned down, pressing her ear against his stomach. She listened closely for a dozen seconds before the comforting sound of bowel sounds reached her ear. Withholding a sigh of relief, she pulled back, certain now that his GI system was not only intact but still functioning.

  
  


Her gaze snapped up as Madara dragged another table over to Sakura with a jarring screech. The other members of the club rapidly deposited their finds onto the table which would serve as Sakura's workstation. Her calculating eyes flicked across the supplies she had been given, taking in what she had to work with as the table was slowly filled with the officers' finds.

  
  


Towels, bottles of water, a bottle of rubbing alcohol, and a box of gloves all got tossed onto the table. Sakura was shocked, however, when Kagami dropped off a cardboard box filled with a loosely organized supply of professional medical equipment. A startlingly large number of syringes, sterile needles, gauze, dressings, IV tubing, IV catheters, surgical tools, tape, gloves, and even a few fresh bags of saline stared up at her. Sakura's eyes flicked up to Kagami and he grimaced before glancing off to the side and leaving to gather more supplies.

  
  


At Kagami's guilty look, she realized that this wasn't the first time that the club had tried to take care of an injury like Izuna's.

  
  


“Obito, Itachi. I need your help,” Sakura called out, both Obito and Itachi immediately appearing at her sides.

  
  


“I need someone to staunch his bleeding while I prepare my supplies. I also need to roll him over to check for bruising and to see if there is an exit wound.”

  
  


“I've got it,” the sergeant at arms replied, stepping forward. When Sakura pulled away, Obito pressed down on the blood soaked jacket stopping Izuna's bleeding.

  
  


“Fuck, Obito!” Izuna cried out as Obito bore down on him, “Try to be a little more gentle!”

  
  


“Quit your whining. You were dumb enough to get shot, you can tough out a little pressure,” Obito chided with a quirked eyebrow, unsympathetic.

  
  


“You're a fucking sadist,” Izuna grunted, his hands gripping the edge of the table.

  
  


Sakura wiped the blood off of her hands and onto her shirt, not caring that she had ruined her clothes, before tugging up the stained sleeves of her long sleeve top. She reached out and dumped the contents of the cardboard box of supplies onto the table before her, her sharp eyes taking in the contents. She pulled a pair of bandage scissors out of the pile and foisted them into Itachi's hands.

  
  


“I need you to get his shirt off,” she instructed curtly, Itachi answering her command with a nod.

  
  


As Itachi worked to slice off Izuna's shirt, carefully avoiding his cut, Sakura called out, “Izumi. I need something that can work as an IV pole. I need to hang this about five feet off of the ground.”

  
  


“On it,” Izumi replied immediately, disappearing into the back hallway.

  
  


Sakura dug back into the supplies on the table, setting aside a bag of saline, a catheter kit, a roll of tubing, an alcohol pad, a tourniquet, and a roll of tape. She tugged a clean pair of gloves onto her stained hands, careful to not dirty the fingers of her gloves. Turning back to Izuna, she grasped his arm and straightened it out, forcing him to release the edge of the table.

  
  


“I hate needles,” Izuna panted, dropping his head back against the table as he frowned at Sakura.

  
  


“Hey, you got shot. A little needle stick shouldn't be too bad,” Sakura joked halfheartedly, trying to lighten the mood like she did in the hospital.

  
  


Using the rubbery tourniquet, she tied a slipknot around his arm. She pressed her fingertips against the skin at the crook of his elbow, searching for a vein. Despite his veins being so thin and his pulse so thready, she was just able to find a suitable location.

  
  


With the skill of a practiced nurse, she disinfected his skin with the alcohol pad and started an IV in Izuna's arm, drawing another hiss of discomfort from the Uchiha. She screwed a saline lock into the catheter before taping the equipment to his stained skin. She didn't see a saline flush in the box and prayed that her IV was not only patent but wouldn't infiltrate.

  
  


“See, not so bad,” she commented before adding on, “This next part though... Might sting a little.”

  
  


Sakura took one of the hand towels off of the table and cracked open a fresh water bottle to wet it.

  
  


“Alright, roll him over,” she commanded as she returned to the injured Uchiha's side.

  
  


The two Uchiha rolled Izuna over onto his side, the eldest man hissing in agony at being moved. Sakura wiped away the blood that had gathered on his back and his side, her eyebrows furrowing at what she found. Izuna's lower back was clear of bruising but his side, near where the bullet had entered, was colored a deep purple. He was bleeding internally and bad. Luckily, however, it appeared that his kidney was unharmed.

  
  


Even more than that though, there was no exit wound.

  
  


“Roll him back over,” Sakura instructed as she returned to her work station, the two men obeying and returning Izuna to his back.

  
  


Izumi returned from the back rooms, a standing lamp and a coat hanger in hand. “Will this work?”

  
  


“That's perfect, thank you,” Sakura answered as she took the coat hanger and hooked the bag of saline onto it.

  
  


She hung the bag from the top of the standing lamp before tugging the cap off of the spike at the end of the IV tubing and spiking the bag of saline. She unrolled the clamp on the tubing and allowed the saline to fill the line and drain onto the floor before connecting it to the saline lock in Izuna's arm and allowing the liquid to flow.

  
  


She nudged Obito's hand, lifting her jacket pressed into his wound to investigate the injury. She was concerned when she noticed that the amount of blood that drained from his wound this time was less than when she had revealed the injury earlier, indicating to her that he was losing too much blood. She prayed that the saline she was pumping him with now would help bring up his blood pressure before he crashed.

  
  


“Okay, Izuna? Are you still with me?” Sakura started as she gently palpated around the wound, trying to see if the bullet was near the surface of his skin. She couldn't find the unmistakable feeling of the bullet beneath the skin and frowned.

  
  


The vice president's half lidded eyes fell upon her as he panted, “Yeah?”

  
  


“I'm going to need to do an exploratory laparotomy on you to see where the bleeding is coming from, okay?” she explained as she pressed her balled up hoodie back against his wound.

  
  


“Fucking _English_ , Sakura,” he groaned back.

  
  


“I'm going to need to make a large incision and open you up to stop the bleeding,” she rephrased.

  
  


“Gods, at least give me a shot to prepare myself.”

  
  


“You can't drink anything. It will thin your blood even farther and make the bleeding worse.”

  
  


“Won't cutting me open make the bleeding worse than me taking a drink?” Izuna argued, his half lidded eyes staring into hers as he gazed at her through his sweaty bangs.

  
  


“Can you promise to hold as still as you can if I let you take a drink?” Sakura finally acquiesced, knowing this surgery was going to be exceedingly painful without any anesthesia to help.

  
  


To help keep him calm, it would be worth the risk.

  
  


“Cross my heart.”

  
  


Sakura frowned but glanced up at Kagami, mouthing the word 'one' at the curly haired Uchiha. The bartender disappeared behind the bar as her gaze locked with Obito's.

  
  


“Hold this down for me?”

  
  


Obito nodded in response, coming forward to take over the job of staunching the bleeding while Sakura returned to her supplies. She quickly located a scalpel, forceps, hemostatic clamps, retractors (shockingly enough), a curved needle, a needle driver, a pair of bandage scissors, and a roll of suture, all wrapped up in sterile packaging. She wished she had vascular sutures on hand and, even more, wished the sutures were of a higher gauge.

  
  


She would make what she had work. There was no other option.

  
  


When Sakura turned back to face her patient, she watched as Kagami handed Izuna a glass filled with a shot of clear liquid. Izuna threw back the shot with a grimace before dropping his head back against the table with a shaky breath.

  
  


“Okay... Let's do this,” he huffed, putting on a brave face as his gaze settled on the ceiling.

  
  


“This will work, Izuna. I promise,” Sakura vowed, the elder man locking gazes with her for a long moment and nodding.

  
  


When Izuna's eyes returned to the ceiling, the tension wrought through his body had lessened incrementally. “I trust you.”

  
  


“Everyone, I need you to hold him down. This is going to hurt... a lot. And I can't have him moving around,” Sakura declared, the tension in Izuna's form returning as all of the Uchiha in the room came forward to pin their vice president against the table.

  
  


“Sorry, VP... Maybe this will help?” Shisui apologized with a deep frown before holding out his leather wallet for Izuna to take.

  
  


Izuna hissed through his teeth in displeasure before taking the wallet in his hands. “Thanks...”

  
  


“Stay strong, brother,” Madara spoke as he pinned down his younger brothers shoulders, Izumi taking position at his arm.

  
  


Kagami and Sasuke settled at Izuna's waist, trying their best to hold him down while also giving Sakura the space she needed to work. Shisui pressed the vice president's leg into the table while Itachi did the same with the other. Obito remained at his side, keeping the cloth tightly pressed against his wound.

  
  


Sakura laid out a clean towel as she began tearing open the packaging on her tools and trying to maintain sterile field as well as she could with what she had. She knew this surgery (gods, her first surgery on a living human) would be far from sterile and would have a high rate of infection but knew that it was better than him dying on that table.

  
  


She tore off her old pair of gloves before slipping on another pair. Grasping the scalpel in her hand and a clean towel in the other, she took a deep breath and turned back to her patient.

  
  


“Okay. It's time. Obito, you can let go. Please help hold him down,” Sakura informed, her tone measured as she gazed down at her patient.

  
  


The sergeant at arms pulled away, allowing Izuna to stick Shisui's wallet into his mouth and bite down before pinning down his free arm. Sakura tossed her blood soaked hoodie to the floor with a wet slap before wiping off what blood she could from the now freely gushing wound. She dropped her now stained towel onto the floor. She pulled the heavily bruised skin of Izuna's side taut, positioning her scalpel against the edge of the wound.

  
  


“Brace yourself,” she announced, feeling as the Uchiha tensed underneath her hands.

  
  


When she cut, Izuna's teeth sunk into the wallet with a cry.

  
  


Sakura watched in muted awe as her finely sharpened scalpel cut through skin, fat, and muscle, the flesh parting easily. She was unable to make the incision in one cut and it took multiple slices to carve through the layers of skin, his abdominal wall, and then his peritoneum and into his abdominal space.

  
  


She cut a large incision, using the puncture from the bullet as a guide for centering her cut. Blood gushed from the wound more freely now, the pocket of blood that had already escaped his circulation flowing out onto her fingertips. Even more than that, he bled from the use of a simple scalpel and not a cauterizing, electrosurgical scalpel. Once done, she set the bloodied instrument back down next to her other tools before coming back with a pair of retractors and hemostatic clamps.

  
  


“Keep him still,” Sakura directed once again as she sunk the teeth of one of the retractors into the incision.

  
  


Izuna tensed but, when she squeezed the retractors and the tool forced open the incision, the only thing that muffled his scream was the strip of leather in between his teeth. When Sakura repeated the same process with the other retractor, opening up his wound wide enough for her to see within, she felt as Izuna suddenly sagged, turning limp underneath his hands. His head lolled to the side, the teeth-marred wallet falling out of his mouth, as he lost consciousness from the combination of blood loss and agony.

  
  


Sakura paid it little mind, focusing entirely on the task in front of her. With the wound opened so wide, she could finally spot the source of the blood loss hidden among the folds of his large intestine: a torn vessel bled freely, more than likely torn open by the bullet that had disappeared into his body.

  
  


The doctor knew better than to go searching for a bullet. The hunks of metal tended to become pretty harmless once they stopped moving. She would only hurt Izuna more and risk killing him herself if she went digging for it. It wasn't presenting an immediate danger so she would leave it be.

  
  


More than anything, Sakura was grateful that his intestines had miraculously been undamaged. An incredible wonder that she thanked the gods for as she reached into his abdominal space to reveal the bleeding vessel.

  
  


She took a pair of hemostatic clamps, clamping shut the vessel on either side of the damage. As the bleeding immediately stopped, she used a clean rag to sop up the blood from within the wound to see what she was doing.

  
  


Reaching into her workspace, Sakura popped off the lid to the cassette full of suture before pulled a foot of suture out of the case. Using the scissors, she cut off the unclean portion of the suture, letting it fall to the floor. She wrapped a length of suture around her hand, trying her best to keep it as sterile as possible, before cutting again. She grasped the curved needle and the needle driver off of her workspace, quickly threading the needle twice. Grasping the needle with the needle driver, she took another steeling breath.

  
  


She returned to the open wound in Izuna's side, grateful that the man had lost consciousness. She was about to perform a very delicate operation and any movement could result in more damage. Leaning in, she carefully began to suture the gash in the vessel in Izuna's side. Careful to avoid damaging the vessel even farther, she gently sewed the hole closed, expertly maneuvering the suture in her hands and tying meticulous knots to prevent any leakage from the stitching.

  
  


Once done, she carefully cut the excess suture and finished her knots, carefully analyzing her work for any mistakes. Once satisfied, she checked her work by unlocking the hemostatic clamps pinning the vessel shut. She allowed herself a smile when she saw no blood seep from her work, breathing an internal sigh of relief.

  
  


Using the prongs of the needle driver to carefully maneuver his viscera, Sakura searched for any additional signs of bleeding, for any damage to his intestines that she may have missed, and to see if she could locate the bullet for easy extraction. Finding nothing unusual, she unclipped the locks on the retractors and allowed the opened wound to close to a loose slit. Dumping her tools on the table, she grabbed a clean washcloth and her opened water bottle from the table. As gently as she could, she cleaned off the bloody skin around the wound, revealing pale, but bruised, flesh around the incision.

  
  


Changing her gloves for a third time, she repeated the process of gathering suture onto her hands and threading it through her curved needle. She began to sew Izuna's peritoneum and layers of muscle back together, careful to avoid puncturing his viscera with the curved needle. After skillfully sealing up the first layer, she gathered another handful of suture before finally stitching up the layer of skin and sealing up the slash in his side.

  
  


Sakura knew that, despite her expert suturing, that this wound would leave a nasty scar.

  
  


Once finished, she stood up straight for what felt like the first time in hours. A smile pulled at the edges of her lips as she gazed down at her handiwork, incredibly pleased with her work. Wetting another washcloth with the last of the water from her water bottle, she cleaned the blood off of her freshly sutured incision.

  
  


She had done it. Looking at Izuna now, she would say that he would live.

  
  


_He would live!_

  
  


Sakura hadn't felt this much joy since the first time she had brought someone back from death with CPR. She hadn't felt this incredible since she beat Kakashi in a spar for the first time. She hadn't felt this on top of the world since she got her grades back from her tests in medical school and realized that she had earned the title of doctor.

  
  


She had saved Izuna's life. He would live. Not only would he live, but the Uchiha's wouldn't be broken by his loss. Madara wouldn't lose his brother, Sasuke wouldn't lose his uncle, the club wouldn't lose their vice president.

  
  


She had helped prevent an escalation in the war. She could have saved dozens of lives. She had made a difference.

  
  


And the joy behind that realization made it so she couldn't drag the smile off of her face.

  
  


“He should be okay,” Sakura finally declared as she tore her gaze away from Izuna and up to the others for the first time since she had begun the surgery.

  
  


Her eyes widened and her lips parted in shock as she took in all the awed faces staring at her. Even Obito, a man who played his emotions close to the vest, stared at her with an expression of unmitigated astonishment.

  
  


“Sakura...” Izumi gasped, her hands gently resting on Izuna's arm since her assistance hadn't been needed since the man had lost consciousness.

  
  


“That was incredible!” Shisui cheered, finally breaking the dam of withheld emotion in all of the Uchiha with his declaration. They all sagged with relief.

  
  


Sakura just laughed, dropping her head to hide her widening smile.

  
  


_She had done it._

  
  


As Sakura began her cleanup, gathering all of her used and blood stained supplies into a pile, Shisui, Izumi, Itachi, and Kagami all gathered Izuna up and carried him into the back room as carefully as they could manage. She watched as Sasuke, who appeared as if the weight of the world had been lifted from his shoulders, and Obito crossed the room to converse quietly among themselves.

  
  


Just as she finished pulling off her gloves and dropping them onto the table with the rest of the waste, she felt as a strong pair of arms wrapped around her from behind, crushing her against a warm chest. She grasped the muscled forearms looped around her as her lover nuzzled the crown of her head.

  
  


Madara's voice was quiet and strained and, even though she could feel his breath against her skin more readily than she could make out his whispered words, she could still hear his praises. “Thank you, thank you, thank you. You're the most incredible woman, the most incredible person, on this earth, my amazing hellcat. You're a goddess. I love you. Thank you, thank you, thank you...”

  
  


Sakura's smile warmed as she leaned back against Madara's chest, sighing as the stress from the surgery finally melted away. Her eyes slid shut as she relaxed in his embrace, finally feeling as her heart began to settle in her chest and as the adrenaline pumping through her blood burned away.

  
  


As the excitement rushing through her body melted away though, so did her euphoria from success.

  
  


When her eyes snapped opened once again and she finally took a hard look at the bloody scene in front of her - at the filthy surgical instruments laid out on a stained towel, at the blood splattered across the room, at the sight of the Uchiha clan crest, smeared with crimson, staring out at her from the table – her blood ran cold.

  
  


Sakura could lose her license for this. She could lose everything she had spent her life working for for performing a surgery like this outside of a hospital. More important than that, she had just become an accomplice. She had saved the life of a criminal who had been shot, she had made herself an accessory in a crime. She could go to jail for this...

  
  


Sakura had finally, well and truly, tied her life to the club. And she hardly knew a thing about them...

  
  


What had she done?

  
  


She gave Madara's arm one last squeeze before quickly pulling away. She refused to face him and, as such, she failed to catch the confused expression on his face.

  
  


“I... I need to keep an eye on Izuna. In case he gets any worse. He lost a lot of blood and he's going to need more saline when the first bag is done,” she explained weakly, averting her eyes from the scene in front of her and her lover.

  
  


“Of... course... Is there anything you need?” Madara asked, a thread of concern in his tone as he tried to meet her eyes.

  
  


Sakura glanced up, briefly gazing into his eyes, but immediately looked back to the ground as a sensation of wrongness settled in her chest.

  
  


“I'll make a list and give it to Izumi...” she decided as her gaze fell upon the blood stained table in front of them, her expression torn.

  
  


Madara's gaze followed hers, settling on the table where Izuna's surgery had occurred, before looking back towards her with a grim understanding in his eyes.

  
  


“I have to go,” Sakura mumbled as she turned away from the scene before her, hesitantly grabbing a bag of saline with a bloody hand print coating it's surface before hurrying into the back room to continue to tend to the injured Uchiha.

  
  


_What had she done?_

 

 


	15. The Truth

Sakura tried to reign in her racing heart as she strode into the back rooms at the clubhouse and entered what she assumed to be Izuna's personal room. Her mind was so clouded that she hardly even registered the maroon and black themed room which was decorated much in the same way as Madara's.

 

She purposefully looked away from the hanging banner on the wall of the Uchiha MC's crest, instead focusing on Itachi, Izumi, and Shisui as they laid Izuna on top of a worn blanket and covered him in a patchy comforter. She assumed it was to keep the blood that was still splattered across the vice president from staining his good bedding.

 

Sakura watched at Kagami carefully hung Izuna's bloodied cut on one of the posts of the elder Uchiha's bed frame. Sakura felt as her stomach rolled, her barely contained anxiety bubbling to the surface at the stark reminder of what she had done.

 

She had saved Izuna's life but she had signed hers away in the process. She could lose everything...

 

As if sensing her inner struggle, none of the Uchiha spoke to her as they exited the room, only glancing at her with expressions which did a poor job of concealing their concern. As Izumi passed, Sakura reached out and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder to halt her.

 

“Izumi,” Sakura started, clearing her throat when her voice came out weaker than she liked, “Could I ask you a favor?”

 

“Of course,” Izumi returned, a frown pulling at her lips at Sakura's tone.

 

“I just need help gathering some additional supplies.”

 

“Not a problem. What do you need?”

 

“Okay, first off, I need a blood pressure cuff, a stethoscope, some more clean towels, water...” the doctor listed, trying to gather her scattering thoughts to give the elder woman a comprehensive list.

 

“Izuna's bathroom works, is that alright for water?” Izumi gestured to the closed door on the opposite side of the bedroom.

 

“Yeah, that will be fine. I just want to clean him up a bit so I can keep an eye on his wound.”

 

“Okay. Yashiro has high blood pressure so we have a old blood pressure cuff and a stethoscope behind the bar. Is that okay? Would an automatic cuff be better? We had one but it broke...” Izumi's eyebrows furrowed, “I could stop by your apartment if you need something.”

 

“No, it's fine. It's better to do it manually anyways. I'm more worried about these medications I need.” Sakura almost ran her fingers through her hair before her eyes settled on the blood still staining her hands. She clenched her fist and dropped it back to her side. “He's going to need some pain killers. Morphine would be most effective for now but Hydrocodone or something similar will work as well.”

 

“Alright, I know someone who can help with that.”

 

“I need antibiotics as well. A penicillin based antibiotic would be fine like Benzylpenicillin or a Piperacillin and Tazobactam mix. I would really prefer a cephalosporin and an aminoglycoside though. They would be much more effective with bacteria's growing resistance to penicillins,” Sakura listed, Izumi's face pinching in confusion.

 

“I'm going to need you to write that down for me, Dr. Haruno... Preferably in legible handwriting. I'm not sure if they teach terrible handwriting in medical school,” the brunette attempted to joke with a tentative smile.

 

Sakura tried to crack a smile in response but it didn't meet her eyes. Her huff of a laugh was even less convincing, only pulling the corners of Izumi's lips downwards once again.

 

“I'm not that bad yet,” Sakura muttered.

 

The elder woman stared into Sakura's eyes for a long moment as if searching for something in her gaze. Before Sakura felt the discomfort from Izumi's weighed stare, the elder woman turned away, gathering a pad of paper and a pen from Izuna's fairly organized desk.

 

After handing her the supplies, Sakura took a deep breath and began to jot down the names of the medications she needed.

 

She could feel her anxiety building up even farther within her, the situation feeling more and more surreal and more and more wrong as she continued. She had already implicated herself by saving Izuna's life... What would be the harm in making sure he didn't get an infection?

 

Even as these thoughts passed through her mind, the tension within her refused to ebb. When the pen she was writing with began to give out, the ink stopping and starting as she tried to write out the complicated names of the medications, Sakura could feel as her control began to crack.

 

She paused for a moment, clenching her teeth as her stress began to overwhelm her, her muscles wrought with tension. She forced herself to finish her list with the dying pen, even as the ball of tension in her chest continued to weigh down her heart and make her feel sick to her stomach.

 

Izumi frowned deeply as she took the list from the Sakura's outstretched hand, her sharp eyes scanning over the words written to make sure she understood. Her parting words were short. “I'll be back in a minute...”

 

Sakura was left in the quiet room, the only sound being Izuna's breathing and her own pounding heartbeat.

 

She took a few deep breaths to try to calm herself as she dragged a chair from Izuna's desk to his bedside. She slumped down in the seat with a heavy sigh and placed the new bag of saline on his bedside table.

 

Needing something to busy herself, and needing to check on her patient's vital signs after the surgery, Sakura gently settled her middle and forefinger against the pulse point on Izuna's wrist. She focused on the clock hanging on the wall to count the seconds as she measured the Uchiha's pulse.

 

His pulse was still high and thready although it was much better than what she had felt when she had started his IV earlier. She was grateful that the IV hadn't infiltrated either, the skin at his IV site still warm and a healthy color.

 

When Izumi entered the room once again, Sakura turned to face her.

 

“Here. They're old but they work fine,” she stared as handed Sakura a stethoscope, one part of the tube taped with electrical tape as if to fix a tear, and a worn blood pressure cuff, “There should be clean washcloths in the bathroom.”

 

Sakura looped the stethoscope around her neck, the tool a familiar and comforting weight, and set the cuff in her lap.

 

“And, uh... Don't ask, but here,” the Uchiha continued as she reached into her pocket and handed Sakura an untouched bottle of morphine and a handful of different gauged needles and different sized syringes, “And I wasn't sure what needle and stuff you needed...”

 

Sakura gazed down at the glass bottle of clear fluid, easily recognizing the medication she had given to patients hundreds of times over the years. A very high dosage, not something easy to get ahold of.

 

“Thanks,” Sakura muttered, running her thumb across the label on the bottle as she wondered if Izumi had gotten ahold of this from Obito.

 

Izumi paused, the silence stretching between them for a long moment as if she was trying to come up with something to say. She took in a deep breath as if prepared to speak her thoughts but instead released it in a sigh.

 

“I'll see what I can do about those antibiotics. I'm thinking it's going to take a while to get them though.”

 

“Thank you. And that's fine. He just needs them soon,” Sakura replied as she set down the bottle of morphine, the syringes, and the needles on the bedside table, next to the fresh bag of saline.

 

As she removed the stethoscope from around her neck and unrolled the worn blood pressure cuff, she noticed that the brunette still lingered uncertainly.

 

“Alright, I'll... I'll be back later,” the young Uchiha finally stated softly before turning and disappearing once again.

 

Sakura was careful as she lifted the bedspread and laced the blood pressure cuff around Izuna's naked bicep. She popped the earpieces of the stethoscope into her ear and placed the diaphragm against the crook of the Uchiha's elbow. Twisting the knob on the air release valve, she pumped the cuff full of air.

 

She listened for the sound of Izuna's heartbeat as she slowly deflated the cuff and, when the sound finally met her ears, she was worried about how low the number on the gauge was. When the sound of his heartbeat disappeared once again, she made a mental note of the number and deflated the cuff the rest of the way.

 

While the injured Uchiha's blood pressure was low, it was just barely high enough for her to think he could tolerate the morphine without bottoming out. She would have to keep a close eye on him all night and he would definitely need that second bag of saline but she was confident that he would tolerate the medicine.

 

As Sakura carefully undid the worn cuff from Izuna's arm, she heard the door open and slowly close. As she set aside the equipment for easy access, she turned to face the newcomer and was surprised to see Madara.

 

Despite knowing he would come to see his brother and her soon, her mouth still popped open in surprise. She gazed up at him, eyes rounded, as he stared at her with an expression of obvious concern and discomfort.

 

Sakura opened her mouth to speak but instead shut it with a frown. She turned to face Izuna once again, looking away from her lover, as Madara slowly entered farther into the room.

 

“He’s lucky the bullet didn’t hit the vein or the artery at his back or his kidneys. He would have bled out before anyone could have helped him...” Sakura started as she grabbed the bottle of morphine off of the bedside table. Her eyes flicked across the label once again, double checking, before she selected a syringe and a needle from the pile Izumi had brought her.

 

“The bullet tore a hole in one of his blood vessels but I was hopefully able to fix that. He needs someone to keep a close eye on him in case it tears open again. The sutures were too big and I'm worried about how they'll fare...” she continued in a soft voice, screwing the needle into the syringe before popping off the protective cap. She sunk the needle into the bottle of morphine and drew up half a milliliter before pulling it back out.

 

She could feel Madara's gaze on her back but ignored it as she popped the cap back onto the needle before unscrewing it from the syringe. She set the covered needle and the bottle of morphine onto Izuna's bedside table. Slowly standing, she reached over and grasped the IV tubing still pumping saline into Izuna's arm.

 

“As it is now, his blood pressure is good enough to where he won’t need any blood. This saline will be enough. It’s even high enough to where I can give him something for the pain.” Sakura screwed the syringe into the port on the IV tubing and gradually injected the contents of the syringe. Once done, she unscrewed the syringe and dropped it onto the bedside table next to the other used supplies.

 

“He’s going to need antibiotics to prevent infection as well. The surgery I did was not sterile...” Sakura finished with a silent sigh, folding her arms across her chest as she continued to avoid Madara's gaze.

 

“Thank you, Sakura, I can’t-” Madara finally started as he slowly approached Sakura, his footsteps cautious despite his words.

 

“We need to talk,” Sakura interrupted seriously, still not looking at him, as she sat back down in the chair at Izuna's bedside.

 

The heavy pause that followed spanned a few tense heartbeats.

 

“Yes, I suspect that you have a lot of questions,” the eldest Uchiha muttered as he gently sat on the edge of Izuna's bed, careful not to disturb his sleeping brother.

 

Sakura huffed. “That’s one way of saying it…”

 

Silence once again stretched between them as they both watched as Izuna's face relaxed in his sleep, the morphine finally whisking away the injured Uchiha's pain. The doctor gently took her patient's arm in her hands, pressing her fingertips to his wrist so she could check his pulse for a full minute.

 

Even as she used the blood pressure cuff and stethoscope that Izumi had given her to check Izuna's blood pressure, Madara patiently waited for her to finish.

 

Once done, Sakura set her supplies on the bedside table. She clenched and unclenched her fists before lacing her fingers together nervously. She took a deep, unsteady breath before finally looking at Madara.

 

“I need you to be honest with me. I need to hear the truth because I need to know what I’ve gotten myself into…” she urged, her tone strained.

 

“Are you positive that you want to hear this? You know some of what we do, some of what I do, but you don’t know the full extent,” Madara questioned, his concern obvious on his face.

 

“I’ve already implicated myself by saving Izuna’s life. I need to know what I’ve made myself a part of,” Sakura pressed, “I need to know who you really are.”

 

The Uchiha frowned deeply, his expression torn. “What do you want to know?”

 

“Everything. I need you to tell me everything, Madara.”

 

“Where do you want me to start?”

 

“The very beginning.”

 

Madara was silent for a long few moments, his head tilting downwards as he gazed at the floor. His eyes flicked up to the blood still staining her hands and her clothes before returning to the floor. He briefly closed his eyes, as if steeling himself, before he nodded almost imperceptibly. When his gaze returned to hers, his expression seemed somehow resigned.

 

“The Uchiha and the Senju were the same family, the same club, once, a little more than a century ago,” the Uchiha started, Sakura's eyebrows raising in surprise at his first revelation, “They were called the Otsutsuki MC, and they were one of the more infamous clubs in history. They were a powerful group of individuals, lead by a bloodthirsty woman known as Kaguya, the Rabbit Queen. She would go on to be violently usurped by her sons, Hagoromo and Hamura, an overthrowing which would lead to the death of both Kaguya and Hamura.”

 

Sakura adjusted in her seat, turning to face Madara more fully as he continued.

 

“The Otsutsuki would have Hagoromo, a man who would bring an era of peace, at it’s head for decades. With Kaguya having been killed and with Hagoromo as the club's president, the MC easily maintained the peace with the other clubs and organizations in the country. At least until it came time to choose the next president of the club, one of Hagoromo's two sons: Indra or Asura,” Madara explained, lacing his fingers together as he spoke.

 

“Indra was a stoic man and was difficult to get along with, as I’m lead to believe. But he had a keen eye for club affairs and maintaining respectful relations with the other groups. Asura was affable and made friends easily, but had no knowledge or interest in the details of running the club. Most wanted Indra to lead with Asura being at his side as VP,” Madara paused for a moment, considering, “One could say both brothers did as well.”

 

“I was told that some test was given by Hagoromo to determine which son would earn the seat of president. The details are fuzzy but each son had to assist an ally club with some task. Indra came back first, having succeeded in his task by himself. Asura came back months later, having also succeeded but having had worked with the allied club to accomplish the task instead.”

 

Sakura spoke for the first time since Madara had began, quietly asking, “I thought the club didn’t chose presidents like heirs?”

 

“We don’t and this is why,” Madara answered before continuing, “The father chose Asura to be the new president and this lead to a severe divide between not only the club but between the brothers as well. Indra was furious at having been denied what he had always been told would be his because he had helped their ally himself instead of working with them to accomplish the goal. Asura had no idea how to run the club and made numerous mistakes that afforded the MC quite a few enemies thereafter.”

 

Sakura only broke her concentration to turn to check on Izuna's condition, the younger Uchiha's breathing stable and pulse growing stronger with each drip of saline.

 

“Everything came to a head once Asura discovered Indra had been taking matters into his own hands to try to fix the relations between the club and the other groups. The other clubs saw the MC as being divided, which it was, and this escalated until the club split down the middle. Indra left, taking half of the Otsutsuki and creating the Uchiha MC,” Madara gestured with one hand and then the other, “Those who sided with Asura wanted to show that they weren’t the remainders but rather a newly revived club. None wanted to bloody reputation of Otsutsuki, one that still lingered even after the murder of the Rabbit Queen. They renamed themselves the Senju MC.”

 

“Everyone split apart because of sibling rivalry?” Sakura questioned in disbelief, her eyebrows furrowed.

 

“I suppose you could summarize it as that, although it was a bit more complicated,” Madara replied, lacing his fingers together once more.

 

“How did the war between the clubs start then? Why is everyone trying to kill each other now?” the Sakura pushed.

 

“The clubs had broken apart into two separate entities that resented one another. Allies were made and each ally has it’s own enemies to bring to the table. More foes were discovered on top of that. Battles were fought over resources, to sate allies, or out of spite for one another. Bad blood became that much more tainted.”

 

“The war that we’re in now, however, began during the reign of Indra and Asura. The Senju say that it was an accident, my family is certain it was assassination...” Madara paused as if considering his words. “No one knows the truth for certain but one of Asura’s sons, a patched in member of the Senju MC, killed Indra’s adolescent daughter.”

 

Sakura’s jaw dropped, her eyes widening in shock.

 

Madara continued. “Indra was furious and inconsolable. He went on a warpath that the Uchiha gladly followed. Indra killed Asura’s son for the death of his only daughter and Asura swore to get revenge for killing his son over something that had been a tragic accident.”

 

“This is what began the cycle of revenge between our families, only escalating over time,” the Uchiha finished, “It’s been a century of bad blood and nothing has been able to put an end to the hatred between our families.”

 

“Has anyone ever tried?” Sakura tried, concern overtaking her expression.

 

“I did once. I…” Madara sighed deeply, “When I was a child, I made friends with a boy my age who went to a nearby school. We shared the same interests, we would spar at the park together, run off to the nearby river to throw stones, and I once considered him to be my closest friend. This boy was a Senju.”

 

Sakura listened intently, hope beginning to show in her expression as the Uchiha recounted the tale from his childhood.

 

“We found out that we were part of two families that were mortal enemies but didn’t care. We dreamed of finding a way to put an end to the war we had grown up in. We wanted a city where we didn’t have to worry about losing our brothers, where the Uchiha and Senju could live together in peace…” Madara shook his head with a bittersweet smile, his gaze dropping to the floor momentarily as he recalled his childhood dream.

 

Madara's smile slowly melted away, replaced instead by a scowl, as if his recollection had been interrupted by some dark memory. “We would often get into trouble for staying out so late and, one day, his brother followed us to the river. When he discovered who I was, he told his father. Little did I know, Izuna had done the same. The next time my friend and I ran off to that river, our fathers and brothers appeared. When our fathers recognized each other, they immediately opened fire.”

 

Sakura gasped softly, her eyes widening as her stained hand came up to her lips. Her hand clenching into a fist which she dropped to her knee, anger building within her at the thought of these two barbaric men trying to kill each other in front of their own children.

 

Gods, what if Madara or Izuna had been shot? Had their fathers not been thinking? ...Did they even care?

 

“It was because of our friendship that we almost got each other killed, that I almost got Izuna killed,” Madara hissed, his voice strained as he scowled at the floor, “After that, both my friend and I knew we were destined to be enemies because of our families. Every time that we met from then on, we fought.”

 

The fury melted away from Madara's face, his expression instead becoming one of careful indifference. “This boy grew to be the president of the Senju MC. His name is Hashirama.”

 

“You were childhood friends with the current Senju MC president? Doesn’t that mean you could both work together to stop the war, like what you two had dreamed of as kids?” Sakura suggested hopefully, sitting up straighter in her seat as she locked gazes with Madara.

 

His returning smile was once again bittersweet. “We tried. We drafted a treaty, more of an armistice than anything else. By then, we had both lost our parents. He had lost two of his four brothers, I had lost three of mine. We wanted to stop the war. We wanted to save the family members we had left.”

 

“The peace only lasted for five months until it was brought to my attention that Hashirama’s brother Tobirama, the VP of their club, was leading attacks on our properties,” Madara's eyes narrowed, his anger at the betrayal of the Senju surfacing as he spoke, “They robbed a handful of our warehouses, stealing our stockpiles of weaponry and taking advantage of the ceasefire to get through our defenses.”

 

“I sent squads out into their territories to take back what they had stolen. It wasn’t long before the battles that ensued brought the Senju out. The brawl at the Dead End, the day you and I first met, was the official end of our paper thin armistice.”

 

“Why did he commit these robberies if you were finally working towards peace?” Sakura countered, shocked that someone would go out of their way to try to make the peace fail, “Didn’t he want the war to stop as well?”

 

“Not everyone in our families thinks like I do. Not everyone wanted peace through forgiveness. Most want peace by ending the lives of every member of the other family,” Madara explained darkly.

 

“That’s… impossible and horrible. No one will even win then, this will just go on forever. It’s pointless!” Sakura returned, dread at the hopelessness of the situation settling in her chest next to the ball of tension still at home there.

 

She could only imagine how Madara must feel.

 

The Uchiha club president simply nodded solemnly, his gaze drifting to his still sleeping brother. “It is.”

 

The silence that stretched between them afterwards was weighed down by the heaviness of the hopeless war. Sakura reached out, carefully settling her fingertips on Izuna's wrist to check his pulse once again. Despite his heart rate having slowed with the morphine, it appeared to have raised since she last checked. Satisfied that this reflected a slow improvement in his condition, she released his wrist.

 

Sakura pulled back, sinking back into her chair, her arms folding across her chest defensively. She had so many questions in her mind but knew that many of them would have answers that would upset her. Answers that would finally reveal to her the kind of man she had fallen in love with.

 

She knew that she needed the answers to these questions but that didn't help abate the dread building in her heart.

 

Sakura finally looked back up at Madara and forced out, “What do your clubs even do? Besides killing each other?”

 

Madara's gaze finally broke from Izuna to return to her once again. He looked into her eyes for a few heartbeats before he spoke.

 

“We are gun runners. We purchase a variety of weapons from a supplier that we sell to the smaller clubs and other organizations around the country,” Madara answered honestly before sighing silently and continuing, “We are also mercenaries of a sort. We take jobs from people who need things done discreetly. Often times, these turn out to be things such as robberies, arsons, debt collection, information gathering, abductions, or hits.”

 

Sakura felt her heart race in her chest as the ball of dread in her chest grew larger.

 

“You’re all…” Sakura started quietly, “Gun runners and assassins?”

 

“Not all of us. The club itself sells weapons but each member takes on certain jobs because they like them or can tolerate them. Some of us enjoy breaking and entering, others arson,” Madara's gaze returned to his brother, “Few of us can tolerate taking out hits or abductions.”

 

Sakura swallowed back the lump building in her throat as she asked, “Which are you?”

 

Madara looked back to her, his expression serious. “Do you really want to know?”

 

Even though her heart flew in her chest and even though she knew she wouldn't like the answer, she firmly replied, “Yes.”

 

“Over the twenty plus years that I’ve been a patched in member of the club... I have done everything. I spent the most time as a debt collector. I have committed robberies and arson, I’ve abducted people, I’ve taken part in... information gathering and, well…” He reached up to rub his bicep through his shirt, the numerous bands tattooed around his arm just beneath the cloth. “You figured out what these bands around my arms mean already.”

 

“...Information gathering?” she whispered, already knowing what he meant.

 

He closed his eyes for a moment before he took a breath. “Torture.”

 

“Why?” Sakura muttered, wrapping her arms around herself tighter, before she forced her voice to be stronger, “Why do all of this?”

 

“Because I will do anything it takes to keep my family safe,” Madara answered passionately, his desperation to protect his family at any cost leeching into his tone, “If I stop, more of the people I love will die. To keep that from happening, I will shoulder any burden that is asked of me.”

 

“Do you want to do this?” _Do you enjoy killing people, torturing people, abducting people, hurting people?_

 

“I would be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy some aspects of the club. Others, I…” Madara shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. What I think or feel doesn’t matter when the lives of those I care about are on the line.”

 

Sakura's stomach rolled, her heart skipping a beat in her chest at his admission. Even though she had more questions, she felt as if they were all unimportant in the face of the answers he had already given. She had asked the questions that were the most important to her and the answers left her feeling sick to her stomach.

 

“I… I need a while to think about all of this,” Sakura whimpered, turning away from the Uchiha and instead staring at the bedspread.

 

“I understand,” he answered quietly, his head dropping as he stared at the floor.

 

When he looked back up, Sakura glancing over at him before quickly looking away, a poorly hidden distress was obvious in his expression.

 

“Sakura, I…” he began, his tone strained, before he stopped himself.

 

She was certain he was going to tell her he loved her. Her heart clenched in her chest, taking her breath away, as she held herself tighter.

 

“I’ll leave you alone. And… thank you for saving my brother’s life,” Madara stated instead, the emotion in his voice from before sealed away.

 

Sakura barely nodded in response, her eyes glued onto a mended hole in the comforter covering Izuna. She knew that if she tried to talk at that moment that she would begin to cry.

 

The eldest Uchiha stood silently, leaving the room without another word. He quietly closed the door behind him, a soft click echoing in the suddenly suffocating room.

 

She sniffled, folding in on herself as a single tear she couldn't hold back slipped down her cheek.

 

“Gods, what have I gotten myself into…” she whimpered as she felt more hot tears begin to gather behind her eyes, her throat tightening as she felt a sob build in her chest.

 

“A war, obviously,” Izuna interjected from his bed, Sakura jolting upright in shock as her watery eyes shot to the Uchiha squinting up at her.

 

“Izuna! What-what are you doing awake?” Sakura stuttered, quickly wiping the tears from her face with the backs of her hands, “I gave you five milligrams of morphine, you should be out cold...”

 

“Ah, that explains it then,” Izuna huffed, blinking slowly as he forced his eyes to focus, “It’s not my first time with pain killers like those, believe it or not.”

 

“I can tell… How are you feeling? Are you in any pain? What would you put it at from a scale of zero to ten?” Sakura immediately began to question, reaching over to grab the blood pressure cuff and stethoscope from Izuna's bedside table.

 

“I’m fine, you can drop the doctor nurse act,” Izuna grunted as he adjusted in bed, waving his hand at her in dismissal, “The more important question is what you’re thinking right now.”

 

“I’m sorry?” she returned, pausing in her movement.

 

The Uchiha quirked a brow at her, bleary eyed. “You just heard the full story, no holds barred, of our club. Everything we have done and do. Everything my brother does and did.”

 

“You...” Sakura muttered before she cleared her throat, “Heard all that?”

 

“I’ve been awake since the morphine kicked in. You know, he could be ousted from the club for everything he just told you. Shunned by our family,” he informed.

 

Sakura's eyes widened in shock. “He could?”

 

“Do you think we go around telling all of our lovers about the dark secrets of the club? The killings and the gun running?” Izuna shook his head. “According to club law, we can tell our spouses if we want but you’re not his wife.”

 

The Uchiha leveled her with a pointed look, the seriousness of his expression showing even through the haze of narcotics. “He basically committed treason to satisfy your _curiosity_.”

 

“Why would he have told me everything if it was so bad?” she questioned, not understanding why Madara would take such an incredible risk on her. His family was the most important thing in the world to him, why would he risk that to answer her questions?

 

“Because he's in love with you. He cares about you more than I’ve ever seen him care about anyone,” Izuna answered as if it was the most simple thing on the face of the planet.

 

“That doesn’t change what you all do - what he does - behind closed doors. He-He’s killed so many people!” Sakura retorted, abandoning her tools to instead wrap her arms around herself once again.

 

“So have I. So have Itachi, Izumi, and Shisui. Even Kagami has killed before. Your new best friend Obito is our resident hitman, he’s killed and tortured _hundreds_ of people,” the Uchiha informed bluntly, Sakura cringing, “Not just that, Sasuke has already killed two people now as well if I’m not mistaken.”

 

Sakura sniffled once again, shakily raking her fingers through her bangs, uncaring of the stains on her hands. Her gaze dropped to the floor as she tried to absorb what Izuna had told her. Every last one of her friends was a killer? Every single one of them had murdered someone, Obito hundreds of people even, and she never knew? She couldn't tell?

 

“And it does, actually.” Izuna tacked on, breaking the silence and her train of thought.

 

“Does what?” she asked quietly, not tearing her eyes away from the tile floor.

 

“His love for you does change what we do behind closed doors, as much as I despise it. He's always pushed for his hopeless peace but it's only gotten worse with you around...” he began gruffly, Sakura finally looking up at the dark haired man through her bangs, “He wasn’t lying when he told you he tried to sign a treaty with those animals in the Senju MC. I’ve told him he shouldn’t trust those dogs a million times but he tried to do this treaty anyways only for them to throw it back in his face. No surprise there but he still didn’t learn his damn lesson.”

 

“He keeps holding back, showing them mercy and trying to keep the war from escalating,” Izuna scoffed before mercilessly adding, “I say we just kill them all and be done with it but he won’t allow it.”

 

Sakura stared at the injured Uchiha, her mouth popped open in shock at his brutal honesty.

 

“What? You asked for this, doc. You wanted the truth and now you’ve got it,” he informed without remorse, “So... What are you going to do?”

 

“I…” she started before slumping back in her chair, distraught, “I don’t know...”

 

“Stick around.”

 

“What?”

 

“I’ve never seen my brother happier than when he's with you. And I know you love him, that you see him for who he is, because you haven’t ran out that door yet,” Izuna explained simply, his love for his brother coming through in his tone.

 

“What if I’m scared of retaliation?” Sakura argued, her hands fisting in her stained shirt nervously at the thought of Madara coming to hurt her for betraying them.

 

“Hah, that’s funny. You have him wrapped around your little finger. He couldn’t hurt you if he tried and he’d never let anyone touch you. You could walk out that front door right now. We owe you a debt after you saved my life. None of us would ever bother you again,” Izuna paused before huffing out a laugh and adding on, “Well, Madara would probably bother you with drunken phone calls every once in a while if you broke his heart, I’m sure, but…”

 

Sakura's heart throbbed in her chest, the heat behind her eyes returning once again and threatening her with tears.

 

Why did he have to phrase it like that...

 

Izuna trailed off for a few long moment, his eyes glossy from the morphine, before he shook his head and looked back to her, “So why don’t you walk out that door?”

 

“I’m still thinking about it,” she growled back, leveling him with a glare that didn't hold any real venom.

 

“Listen, I know this is a lot to take in. You’re a nurse and a doctor, your job is to save lives and we are about as far from that as you can get. But out of all of us, you’ve found the one who wants peace. There’s no shame in loving that,” he explained, surprising Sakura with the thoughtfulness of his words.

 

“You’re really high right now, aren’t you?” she finally asked.

 

“Oh, _incredibly,_ ” Izuna chuckled, even Sakura cracking a smile as she dropped her head.

 

“Speaking of, before I fall back asleep and in case you do decide to leave and I never see you again… Thank you for saving my life. I owe you pretty substantial favor. And this a personal debt, not one tied to my brother or the club. If you ever need anything, you let me know,” the Uchiha thanked seriously.

 

“Just try not to get shot again,” Sakura returned, shaking her head.

 

Izuna snorted out a laugh in response before cringing and reaching down to cradle his side. “I’ll try.”

 

* * *

 

Much to Sakura's relief, Izuna soon fell back asleep after their brief conversation. She attributed his candor to the fact he was blitzed out of his mind on one of the most powerful narcotics known to man. Even though his brutal honesty had grated on her already frayed nerves at points, she had been grateful for his frankness. It gave her more information to work on, more things to consider.

 

Shortly before Izuna had fallen back asleep, the doctor had finally scrubbed the blood off of her hands in his bathroom and gathered some hand towels to clean off his incision. After checking on the tender wound, she had been satisfied, even though Izuna had been less than pleased at being poked at.

 

As she stayed the night to keep an eye on Izuna and to periodically keep him dosed with morphine to keep the pain away as he rested, she asked herself one incredibly important question:

 

Was she going to stay with Madara after this?

 

Sakura's heart painfully clenched in her chest just at the thought. She found it harder to even draw breath into her lungs at the thought of breaking it off with the man she was so madly in love with.

 

Her emotions were so conflicted, warring with themselves in her heart and mind, after the events of that day. After everything that she had done, everything she had heard. Her mind played her memories on repeat, rehashing the same situations and the same conversations in her head over and over.

 

What she had learned that day clashed so intensely with all of her warm memories with the man she loved. The man that she had finally learned the truth of.

 

A robber, an abductor, a torturer, an arsonist, a hitman... He was all these things and more and Sakura struggled to integrate these facts in with the loving, passionate man she had tied herself to.

 

Sakura's inner war continued throughout the night as she periodically checked Izuna's pulse and blood pressure. Once the first bag of saline ran dry, she replace it with the fresh bag in wait.

 

The doctor was surprised when Kagami interrupted her inner debate to deliver her a simple dinner from the nearby diner. She thanked him for his incredible thoughtfulness, touched by his concern for her.

 

She couldn't find it in her to tell him that she couldn't even bare the thought of food with the knot of dread in her chest stealing away everything within her besides her anxiety.

 

Sakura set aside the styrofoam box, hoping that Izuna might be interested in the food once he woke up. She sat in the chair next to her patient's bedside as she continued to fight with herself, pulling her knees to her chest as she thought.

 

Her gaze fell upon Izuna sleeping peacefully and she wondered if he was lying about Kagami having killed someone before. The curly haired Uchiha was so kind and open-hearted. He always had a smile on his face. A killer didn't look like that... did they?

 

Why would Izuna lie about something like that?

 

Her eyes drifted up to Izuna's bloody cut still hanging from his bed post. The crimson splattered Uchiha MC crest stared back at her. She quickly looked away, hugging her legs to her chest as she hid her face in her knees.

 

She felt so alone. Like she was without an anchor. She didn't know who she could turn to for advice. She had no one she could talk to about this incredibly important decision. She couldn't talk to Sasuke, she couldn't talk to Naruto, she couldn't talk to her friends, she certainly couldn't talk to her parents...

 

She loved Madara with everything she was but she wasn't sure if she could be with him with this life he lived...

 

Sakura was startled out of her thoughts by the sound of a gentle knock at the door. She whipped around and watched as Itachi quietly made his way inside, a stack of clothes in one hand with a plain paper bag sitting on top and her purse held in the other.

 

He paused at the door as his eyes fell upon her, curled up in the chair next to Izuna's bed, before he closed the door behind him.

 

“I've brought you those antibiotics you asked for. We were able to get the ones you requested,” he started as he walked to stand next to her, handing her the pile of clothing, the paper bag, and her purse, “Here's your bag. And the clothes are from Izumi. She thought you would like something clean to change into.”

 

“Er, thank you. That is very much appreciated,” Sakura replied as she took the supplies, setting down the clothes and her purse and unfurling the paper bag on top.

 

She was satisfied with the medications inside, simultaneously glad that they had found the antibiotics she needed and concerned as to how they had gotten ahold of them.

 

Well, if they could get ahold of guns to sell to other clubs then-

 

Sakura forced herself to abandon the line of thought as she set the paper bag and stack of clothes on Izuna's bedside table.

 

She felt the weight of Itachi's gaze upon her and, when she looked back to him, she wasn't surprised to see he was watching her.

 

“I suspect by your expression that my uncle told you everything,” he guessed.

 

“Is it that obvious?” she muttered, curling back in on herself as her gaze fell upon her patient once again.

 

The corner of Itachi's lip quirked up but there was little amusement there. “Perhaps. More than anything, I know of you as being a woman who does not tolerate half truths or keeping secrets.”

 

Sakura huffed out a raw laugh as she dropped her chin against her knees. Itachi leaned against Izuna's desk, his arms loose at his sides as he watched her with understanding eyes.

 

When she didn't speak, he broached, “I understand this must be incredibly difficult for you. I imagine that you may have some questions that you couldn’t ask Madara or Izuna. I’m willing to answer any questions you may have, if it helps.”

 

She paused as she considered his words and then what she would ask. When she turned to face him, her expression was torn.

 

“Is it true?” she started, her tone desperate, “That the club runs guns and kills people and abducts people and tortures people and… Do you all really do these horrible things?”

 

“Yes. That and more,” Itachi admitted easily, Sakura's heart dropping into her stomach as her gaze returned to Izuna's sleeping form. “Although, if it’s any consolation, we will not accept jobs involving children or pregnant women, we do not sell drugs of any kind although we do have a liquor operation, we do not have any prostitution rings, and we do not condone sexual assault in any form. Any of us who are discovered to have taken advantage of a man, woman, or child in such a way is taken care of.”

 

“And by taken care of, I’m guessing killed?” Sakura presumed.

 

“Yes, that is accurate.”

 

“Can’t say I’m upset about that part…” she muttered into her knees.

 

“No one ever is,” Itachi commented honestly.

 

Sakura felt relaxed in the presence of Sasuke's older brother, as she often did. He brought with him a sense of calm and an easy understanding that enveloped any room he occupied. She felt, in that moment, like he could be the person she needed to talk to. The person she needed to help her decide how to move forward.

 

“Do you think that it will ever stop? That peace will ever happen between your clubs? That Madara can bring it?” she asked softly, not facing Itachi.

 

“I would have never allowed Sasuke to join the ranks if I didn’t believe in our uncle,” Itachi answered immediately, his serious tone drawing Sakura's gaze to him, “It may not happen today, tomorrow, a week, even a month from now… It may be years, honestly. But Madara is a man who wants peace, the only president in our history who has ever tried to make a treaty with the Senju MC. I believe that, one day, he will accomplish his goal.”

 

Sakura was surprised by Itachi's vehemence and could feel the truth in his words. Itachi loved Sasuke more than anyone on his planet and she knew that he would never allow his little brother to enter an endless war where the only ending was death.

 

She gazed at him for a long moment, her internal struggle reflecting in her expression as she whispered, “...What should I do? I... I don’t know what to do…”

 

“I can’t give you the answer to that. But what if I ask you this… Do you love him?” Itachi challenged in a gentle tone.

 

“Of course I do, more than I’ve ever loved anyone,” Sakura answered immediately. That she knew without any doubt in her mind. She loved Madara.

 

“Does he make you happy?” he questioned.

 

“Yes, he does…” she replied softly, knowing that this was undoubtedly true as well.

 

“You know that he cannot change his past, only his future. If the war were to end tomorrow, would you still be with him? Despite everything he has done?” Itachi continued pointedly.

 

“I…” she whispered, conflicted, as her eyes parted from Itachi's to drop to the floor, “I don’t know…”

 

“Then perhaps that is something to consider,” the Uchiha finished.

 

Sakura's lips pressed into a flat line as she thought, her mind once again racing as she was given yet more information to consider.

 

“I need to leave for now but, if you need someone to talk to about this, you have my phone number. I will keep anything you say confidential,” Itachi offered as he pushed off of Izuna's desk to stand.

 

“Thank you, Itachi,” she replied, looking back up to the Uchiha as he prepared to leave.

 

“Of course. And thank you for looking after my family. Not just Izuna and Madara. Sasuke as well,” he sincerely thanked as he turned to leave, leaving Sakura with her thoughts once again.

 

She felt less out of control after her brief talk with Itachi. She felt as if she could finally think straight, to consider everything she learned, everything she had been told, as subjectively as possible.

 

Madara lived a violent life in an outlaw club. He was a man who had committed numerous brutal crimes. He was a man whose hands were stained with blood, who had made his own body into a gravestone. He was a man who was a solider in this seemingly hopeless war, who would go to any grisly lengths to protect those he cared about.

 

Despite this, he was not a monster. He had tried to make peace happen in a very meaningful way. He did everything to protect his family, to keep those he loved safe. He treated her wonderfully, with respect, love, and admiration.

 

He loved her and she loved him...

 

What if the war ended tomorrow? What if the killings stopped? Would she stick around? She knew what the club was now. They ran guns, they carried out hits, they were real life mercenaries… Could she live with that? Could she love that?

 

Sasuke was part of the club. He had already killed people and she would always love him no matter what. He had wanted to be a part of the club since he was old enough to understand what it was and Sakura had accepted his choice when they were young. Could she respect that same choice in a man she was in a romantic relationship with?

 

Her eyes fell on Izuna, taking in the IV hooked up to his arm, the bag of saline half finished, the blood staining the blankets, and the empty vial of morphine in the trash.

 

Itachi said thank you for protecting his family. She had always protected Sasuke and Naruto and she had saved Izuna’s life…

 

Could she abandon them all? She knew they would be in danger again. They all lived lives of peril. Could she turn her back to them all, knowing that someone could die without her there to help?

 

What if it was Itachi next time? Or Shisui or Izumi? The three would be broken beyond repair if they lost any of their group. Gods, what if it was Sasuke? What if she lost her brother because she turned her back on them? What if Madara died because she chose to leave?

 

Could she live with herself knowing that, if she had stayed with the man she loved, if she had given herself to the people she loved, someone she loved could have been saved?

 

Izuna would be dead if it wasn’t for her. Madara’s only remaining blood brother, the man he cared about most on this earth, would have lost his life tonight if she hadn’t been there. If Madara had lost Izuna, would he still be seeking out peace? Or would he give up on his dream and give into vengeance?

 

Sakura dropped her head against her knees, hiding her face in between her knees as her thoughts raced.

 

Could she play a part in helping end this war by helping the people she loved? The men and women she had grown up with, who she called brother, friends, her lover?

 

If she took care of the Uchiha who were injured in battle or otherwise, she could help tip the scales. She could help Madara work for peace by keeping the family together. By preventing the need for more vengeance, she could help the man he loved accomplish his dream and her hope.

 

Was that a risk, a sacrifice she was willing to make? Could she risk her career, everything she had worked for, on love? Could she even still love him after everything he had done? What he was? Could she live with this?

 

Or was she just tricking herself into believing whatever she needed just so she could follow her heart and stay with the man she loved, despite his darkness?

 

Thoughts spiraling in her mind, Sakura finally stood from the chair at Izuna's bedside to go change into the fresh clothes Izumi had loaned her.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here we are, finally. The truth behind everything the club does, laid out for Sakura to hear. She's going to have a very important choice to make here now that she's been faced with the reality of who Madara is...
> 
> I had a lot of fun writing the history of the clubs, figuring out how I would include Indra and Asura. At first, I thought I might include them as being grandparents that were still alive but I figured this was much more appropriate. And I have too much love for the mastermind Kaguya to not include her in the story.
> 
> Don't forget to leave a review! They encourage me to keep writing when I'm also staring down the throat of this nursing school beast.


	16. A Choice

Sakura was exhausted.

  
  


Her eyes burned from keeping an eye on Izuna all night. Her back hurt from staying curled up in the chair at his bedside. Her head ached from her stress.

  
  


Izuna had remained stable throughout the night despite his own pain. His blood pressure slowly continued to rise to an almost normal level, his breathing never became so shallow or so sparse that she worried about giving him his pain killers, and his pulse continued to grow in strength each time she checked it.

  
  


She would have been impressed by his endurance if she could think of anything besides his vital signs and her own frantic thoughts.

  
  


Sakura was unable to focus, her thoughts wild as they rampaged in her mind. Her thoughts were so scattered that they were beginning to border on nonsensical. She felt like she was being pulled in a hundred different directions and her lack of sleep did nothing to help abate her anxiety.

  
  


She knew she needed to get out of the clubhouse to think straight. She needed to get away from all of these Uchiha to think about what she was going to do. She needed to gather her thoughts and she couldn't accomplish that being surrounded by Madara's family.

  
  


Sakura desperately needed to be alone.

  
  


Now that she was certain that Izuna was through the worst of it, she knew that she could slip away to think. She performed one final check on her patient's vital signs and was satisfied when they remained stable and increasingly strong.

  
  


He had made it through the night and she was confident that he would be fine from then on out.

  
  


Sakura stood from her place in the chair next to Izuna's bed and stretched, working out the kinks in her back. She quietly returned the chair to it's home at his desk before pausing to gather up a paper and pen from the neatly organized work space. She quietly wrote down everything that the Uchiha family would need to do to take care of their wounded club mate before gathering her purse from the floor.

  
  


As she opened the door and stepped out into the hallway, she took one final look back at Izuna. Her eyes drifted up from the peacefully sleeping man to the makeshift IV stand and then to his blood soaked cut still hanging on the post of his bed frame.

  
  


Her gaze dropped down to the floor before she silently closed the door behind her, her heart and stomach lurching in unison. She took a steeling breath before hooking her purse more securely on her shoulder and heading towards the doorway leading into the main room of the clubhouse.

  
  


When Sakura reached the entry way, she peered around the corner to discreetly take a look at everyone in the main room.

  
  


She immediately spotted Madara sitting on a stool at the bar, his elbows resting against the wood as he hunched over the bar, deep in thought. His bangs hid his face from her as he absentmindedly turned a coaster over in his hands. Her heart clenched in her chest, her hands fisting around the strap of her purse, and she immediately tore her eyes away from him.

  
  


She noticed Kagami sat at one of the tables in the clubhouse, deep into one of his textbooks on law. Obito sat next to him, one of the novels he had borrowed from her in his hand. Being the incredibly observant man he was, Obito's eye flicked up to meet Sakura's eyes. She tensed when their gazes locked but the hitman's expression softened and he discreetly nodded once before returning to his book.

  
  


Sakura's perusal continued until it fell upon Izumi, Itachi, Shisui, and Sasuke taking up all three of the couches in the makeshift living room. The news played at a low volume on the TV perched on the wall in front of them, the white noise filling the otherwise quiet clubhouse.

  
  


Sasuke, who had changed into a clean set of clothes at some point that night, was out cold, dominating an entire couch as he slept fitfully. Shisui took up the other couch, his long legs spread out along the cushions and his arms crossed tightly across his chest as he slept incrementally more peacefully.

  
  


Izumi and Itachi shared the final couch, sharing a private conversation in hushed tones. They both appeared as tired as Sakura felt and, when she finally gathered the courage to step out into the open and approached them on silent feet, they looked up with bleary but hopeful eyes.

  
  


“How is he doing?” Itachi asked, his quiet voice breaking the silence in the room in a way that jarred Sakura down to her bones.

  
  


Even though Sakura felt as all of the eyes in the room fell upon her, Madara's gaze at her back felt the heaviest.

  
  


“His blood pressure has been slowly rising and his pulse is getting stronger. He'll be okay. He just needs to take his antibiotics, take care of his incision, and rest,” the doctor explained simply, the tension in the room abating as a wave of relief washed over everyone.

  
  


“I'm so happy to hear that...” Izumi sighed, sagging in relief, before her eyes flicked back up to Sakura's. She noticed the elder woman's gaze lingered on her hands but was too overwhelmed at the moment to think more deeply about it.

  
  


“Is there anything we can do to help in his healing process besides making sure he takes his antibiotics?” Itachi questioned, drawing Sakura's bleary attention.

  
  


“Yeah, there is. Here... I made a list of things to keep an eye on and things he can and can't do and what you need to keep an eye on,” Sakura answered before handing Itachi the folded note in her hands, “The most important thing is that he's going to have some pretty severe hypotension which means he needs to be careful when sitting up and standing. He can pass out if he does so too quickly. And don't give him his pain meds if his breathing gets too slow. Everything else is written there.”

  
  


“I understand. We'll keep a close eye on him so he doesn't hurt himself,” Itachi promised, opening the note and skimming over the contents.

  
  


“Good. I'm...” Sakura rubbed her opposite arm before tugging her purse close. “I'm going to head home and get some sleep. My phone is on and, if anything happens, you need to call me.”

  
  


Izumi frowned but nodded in understanding. “Of course. We'll keep you in the loop... Thank you, Sakura. For everything.”

  
  


Sakura's stomach lurched in her chest at Izumi's sincere yet final sounding tone. She forced a smile, not able to respond with the sudden lump in her throat. She looked to the ground before turning and heading towards the door, her heart racing as she passed by all of the Uchiha who she knew were watching her.

  
  


Unable to restrain herself, despite already knowing what she would find, she glanced up to where she could feel Madara watching her. When their gazes met, her galloping heart skipped a beat. Looking into his eyes now, she could see the restlessness in his form. She could tell that he hadn't slept last night, the bags under his eyes that much deeper. She could sense his anxiety and, more than that, she could see the question in his eyes.

  
  


Sakura had no answer for the question in her lover's gaze and quickly broke eye contact, her own gaze falling to the floor as she brushed her bangs out of her face.

  
  


She couldn't talk to Madara yet. She didn't even know what she would say to him. She needed to eat, she needed to sleep, she needed to get out of the clubhouse to think straight.

  
  


Sakura was in such a rush to leave that she missed how Madara's shoulders slumped and how his gaze dropped back down to the bar.

  
  


* * *

  
  


Sakura had been so distracted by her thoughts that she couldn't even remember her drive home. It was only when she slipped her key into the lock on her front door that she finally came back to herself.

  
  


After stepping into her dark apartment, the only light being the diffuse light from the rising sun hitting her closed blinds and making them glow. Her home was painfully silent, the only thing to combat the buzzing in her ears being the steady tick of her clock hanging on the wall.

  
  


When she took a shaky breath in, the tiny noise sounded incredibly loud in her near silent home. She flicked on the lights in her living room before hanging her purse on the coat rack next to her door.

  
  


Sakura passed by her living room, her kitchen, and her bedroom in favor of her bathroom. Without even grabbing a change of clothes, she immediately spun the knobs on her shower and began tugging off her borrowed garments. She caught sight of her reflection in her bathroom mirror and, when she spotted a few smears of blood on her forearms that she had missed when she had washed her hands that night, she immediately rushed into her shower.

  
  


The water was far too cold and nearly made her cry out when she submerged herself. The spray quickly heated up to be far too hot but Sakura couldn't find it in her to care when her thoughts brought her far more discomfort.

  
  


She made quick work of washing her short locks, scrubbing the shampoo into her hair and rinsing off in the too hot water. As she brought her hands down to reach for her next set of soaps, her sharp gaze once again returned to the lingering smears of dark brown blood on her arms, halfway washed away by the hot water.

  
  


Sakura shoved her limbs into the spray of water and scrubbed away the lingering remainders of her surgery, her thoughts once again returning to that night. Anxiety and guilt shot through the doctor as she watched the old blood wash away, disappearing in the too hot stream of water.

  
  


Had she done the right thing? She had saved Izuna's life, but she had tied herself to the club. She had risked everything she had worked for, everything that she had dedicated her entire life to earning. She hardly knew these people, aside from Sasuke. And she had only been with Madara for a few months...

  
  


What was she going to do?

  
  


Sakura became so lost in her thoughts that she forgot to condition her hair entirely, something she only noticed when she finally emerged from the shower and tried to drag a brush through her tangled locks.

  
  


She kept her towel wrapped around her as she exited her steamy bathroom and padded into her bedroom. She reached into her closet for something to wear and she had already pulled one of Madara's shirts halfway off of the hanger before she realized what she was doing.

  
  


She paused for a long moment, her breath catching in her chest, before she returned the shirt back to the hanger and instead grabbed one of her old pajama tops: a faded band t-shirt. She pulled it over her head before pulling a pair of panties and a pair of shorts onto her hips. She tossed her damp towel into her hamper before heading back out into her kitchen, brushing her damp bangs out of her face as she went.

  
  


Sakura was on autopilot as she heated up a microwavable dinner chosen from her freezer at random. She wasn't even sure what she had made for herself, her thoughts still wild as she stared at the slowly turning plastic dish in her buzzing microwave. When the beeper sounded, she jumped, surprised back into the world around her once again.

  
  


She took her meager dinner to her table where she sat down in the oppressive silence. As she waited for her meal to cool enough to eat, she gathered her thoughts just enough to make an important phone call.

  
  


She scrolled through her contacts before tapping on a familiar name and putting the call on speaker. She dropped her phone onto the table at the same time she dropped her forehead into her hands. The call was answered after just two rings.

  
  


“Dr. Senju,” Tsunade greeted briskly from the other side of the line.

  
  


“Good morning, Dr. Senju. I'm sorry for calling so early, I just needed to ask for tomorrow off. There was a-” Sakura paused for a moment as she thought and hoped that Tsunade didn't catch her moment of hesitation. “-family emergency last night. I can work over the weekend to make up for it...”

  
  


The lengthy pause on the other end of the line was deafening.

  
  


“Very well,” Tsunade finally replied professionally, Sakura sagging with relief, “I expect you to return the day after tomorrow. You're our newest resident and I can't have you making a bad impression after I chose you specifically.”

  
  


“I will. I'm sorry again for the late notice. And thank you for the opportunity. I won't let you down.”

  
  


“Good, I'm glad to hear it... But... Sakura?” Tsunade continued, her tone softening into something which sounded close to concern.

  
  


“Ma'am?”

  
  


The elder woman paused for a long moment, as if struggling for words, before finally sighing, “Nevermind. I'll see you the day after tomorrow. Don't be late.”

  
  


The blonde didn't even give Sakura the opportunity to say goodbye before she hung up.

  
  


The young woman sighed quietly, rubbing her temples as she watched the screen of her phone go dark. She wondered what that odd tone of voice from Dr. Senju had been about. The normally gruff and powerful woman had sounded strangely concerned. She wondered what the elder woman had been about to say before brushing it off as concern about her ‘family emergency’.

  
  


She cringed at the lie before turning her attention to the food sitting in front of her.

  
  


Sakura quickly ate her tolerably hot dinner, not even tasting the meal she had made for herself. Once finished, she threw away her trash, threw her fork into the sink, and filled a glass with water. She downed the glass in one go before dumping the dish into the sink as well.

  
  


The exhausted doctor finally made it to her couch, flopping down onto the cushions and stretching out. She rolled over onto her side, intending to take a short nap to combat her exhaustion. When she grabbed one of her pillows and laid her head down on it, she was immediately greeted by Madara's all too familiar scent.

  
  


They had known each other for such a small amount of time but, in the time it took for them to fall in love, he had pervaded every facet of her life. Even now, it felt like a part of her was missing. She had grown used to him always being with her and, even with her inner turmoil... she missed him.

  
  


Allowing herself this one small concession, she curled up around the pillow and tugged the throw blanket from the back of her couch onto herself. As she finally began to drift off, her thoughts continued to spiral uselessly in her mind.

  
  


Sakura thought of what Madara had told her: What the club did. What he did. Who he was. She thought of how he had risked his position in his family, how he had risked being ousted from the club he loved so much, just to tell her the truth.

  
  


She thought about what Izuna had told her: How Madara strove for peace. How he had tried to put forth a treaty that had fallen apart.

  
  


She thought of what Itachi had told her: How he believed in Madara's dream. How he had so much faith in his uncle that he had allowed his most precious person, Sasuke, to join the club.

  
  


Sakura thought of the questions Itachi had asked her.

  
  


Did she love Madara? Yes.

  
  


Did he make her happy? Yes.

  
  


Could she still be with him after everything he had done? Could she live with this? Could she still love him now that she knew who he was?

  
  


Sakura still couldn't find an answer to that question as she quickly fell into a fitful sleep.

  
  


* * *

  
  


When Sakura's eyes slid open, she was greeted by the abnormal sight of the wooden floor of an unfamiliar room. She slowly sat up, confused by her surroundings, and only became more confused as she found herself lying on the floor of a dark room that seemed to stretch out to infinity. When she looked around, she could see no end to the dim, never ending space.

  
  


She picked up the sound of a woman sobbing in the distance and, when she looked behind her, she could barely make out the form of someone sitting on the ground a ways away.

  
  


“Hello?” Sakura called out as she slowly rose to her feet, her voice sounding strangely muted, as if she were under water.

  
  


The woman didn't respond, her sobbing continuing as if she hadn't heard Sakura at all.

  
  


Sakura continued forward, slowly approaching the strange woman. As she walked, she was slowly able to see more and more of the crying stranger. She could see now that she had light colored hair and was holding something large in her lap.

  
  


“Hello? Ma'am? Are you okay? Do you need help?” Sakura offered as she continued forward, slowly walking until she came up to the woman's side.

  
  


As she got closer, Sakura could make out that it was a person lying across the woman's lap. The doctor's heart picked up in her chest as dread settled over her. As she cautiously approached, the woman didn't even react.

  
  


She quietly walked around the woman, the stranger's wailing becoming more frightening and ominous as she got closer. She carefully peered around the crying woman and, when she finally saw who was laid out across the stranger's lap, Sakura released a broken sob of her own.

  
  


Her hand slapped over her mouth to hold back her cries as she stared down at the broken and bloodied form of Sasuke. Her lifeless best friend looked as if he had been in some terrible accident, as if he had been thrown off of his bike on the freeway. He looked just like the mangled corpse of a man who had found his way into her ER all those year ago.

  
  


Tears immediately sprung free from her eyes and began to pour down her cheeks. She couldn't drag her eyes away from her broken best friend, her knees growing weak as she was forced to accept that one of the people she loved the most in this world was dead.

  
  


The strange woman who was holding Sasuke's corpse in her lap suddenly stopped wailing, the only sound to fill the silent, never ending room being Sakura's own cries.

  
  


“This is your fault.”

  
  


“W-what?” Sakura sobbed, finally tearing her watery eyes away from Sasuke's body to look at the pink haired woman.

  
  


When the strange woman whipped around to face Sakura, she realized that she was staring down at herself.

  
  


“You abandoned them! If you had stayed, this never would have happened!” her copy screamed, Sakura stumbling backwards at the sorrow and fury in her voice.

  
  


“No, I'm-! I didn't, I-!” she tried to argue as hot tears continued to pour down her burning cheeks.

  
  


“You thought they were monsters but you’re the monster!” her copy roared.

  
  


When Sakura tried to defend herself, Sasuke's head snapped up with the sound of a gunshot. His lifeless eyes flared red as he locked eyes with her, startling her. She tripped over her own feet as she staggered back, falling backwards. It felt like an eternity before her back finally hit the floor, Sasuke's scarlet eyes staring into her the entire time.

  
  


Instead of hitting solid ground, however, Sakura hit a body of freezing water. She sunk down into the frigid, pitch black water, her limbs pinwheeling as she struggled to figure out which way was up and which was down. She couldn't breath, the oppressive weight of the icy water filling her mouth and her nose. She could feel as she began to black out, her head and her lungs throbbing as she struggled against the oppressive darkness.

  
  


Sakura had thought that she was going to die, that she was going to drown in this freezing water as punishment for letting Sasuke die, before three small hands grabbed onto her arm.

  
  


She watched as she was dragged towards a light in the murky distance before she finally breached the surface of the water. She dragged in a desperate gasp of air as she was pulled onto something wooden and solid, the smooth wood warm under her fingertips. After wiping away the water in her eyes, she could see that she had been pulled onto a dock that stretched out over a pristine lake. Beyond the lake was an endless forest and, above her, the sun shone brightly.

  
  


“Are you okay?” the voice of a young boy asked, drawing Sakura's attention behind her.

  
  


Shisui, Itachi, and Izumi all sat behind her, concern flooding their features. The sight of them all together was not an unusual one but the sight of them all together as children no older than ten took her by surprise.

  
  


“Sakura?” Itachi prompted, his tiny face pinched in apprehension.

  
  


“Yes, I… I’m fine. I just fell in... I think,” Sakura finally answered, her voice sounding high pitched and childish to her own ears.

  
  


“Good to hear you’re okay!” Shisui declared with his same megawatt smile, drawing a smile from Sakura as well.

  
  


“Want some?” Izumi asked, offering Sakura a stick of colorful dango.

  
  


“Sure,” she replied as she reached out and took the proffered treat.

  
  


When she looked back up at her friends, they all had bright crimson eyes.

  
  


Her own eyes widened as she felt like she had fallen into a black hole on the wooden deck. She slowly fell back down into the darkness, unable to tear her eyes away from the scarlet eyes of her friends as they watched her fall back into the darkness with frightened expressions.

  
  


“Sakura!” one of them screamed, she wasn't sure who, the call sounding as if it had come from some far away place.

  
  


Sakura blinked and, in the moment her eyes were sealed shut, she landed flat on her back. Her eyes snapped open once again and she was greeted by a ceiling fan lazily spinning from its place on an off white popcorn ceiling.

  
  


She shot up into a sitting position, her eyes flicking across the room that she now realized was her parent's living room.

  
  


“Miss? Are you okay?” an unknown man asked from behind her, Sakura whipping around to face him.

  
  


A man and a woman, both the faded, sepia coloration of old photographs, stared down at her with concerned expressions. They both wore Uchiha MC cuts but, when Sakura tried to read the patches that would tell her their names and positions, the letters wouldn't form coherent words.

  
  


“Miss?” the dark haired man repeated, Sakura’s eyes lingering on his somehow familiar undercut as she struggled to recognize who he was.

  
  


“Sweetheart? Are you alright?” the woman asked, holding out her hand to help her stand. As she leaned down, her unruly ebony hair hung wildly around her shoulders like a dark halo.

  
  


Sakura's eyes snapped between the two strangers before she swallowed and finally forced out, “Yes, I'm... I'm okay.”

  
  


They both smiled in relief as Sakura reached out and grasped the woman's hand and allowed her to pull her to her feet.

  
  


“Good. We can't have you getting hurt after everything you've done,” the woman cooed, pulling Sakura into a tight embrace before releasing her with a pat on her back.

  
  


“I'm sorry?” she asked, confused.

  
  


Her breath caught in her chest when she finally noticed the deep, bleeding gash carved into the woman's neck.

  
  


“Thank you for saving my son,” the man thanked deeply, Sakura gasping and taking a startled step backwards when she noticed the gunshot wounds peppered across his chest.

  
  


“You’re…” Sakura started, her voice a whisper.

  
  


“Please take care of our family,” the woman with a slit throat beseeched, her words garbled from the blood leaking from the corners of her mouth.

  
  


The strangers both blinked before Sakura could reply and, when she met the now crimson eyes of the strangers, her world went blank like someone had pulled the plug on a TV.

  
  


In the span of a heartbeat, she was suddenly in more agony than she's even felt in her life.

  
  


Sakura parted her lips to scream, an indescribable pain radiating through her entire body. When she dragged a desperate gasp of air into her burning lungs to fuel her next scream of torment, the pain suddenly dulled to a single point in her abdomen.

  
  


As Sakura panted, the sound of a baby wailing filled the sudden silence left behind by her screams. Her eyes finally slid open and she was greeted with the all too familiar inside of the operating room in Konoha Regional Hospital.

  
  


She looked down and saw a pristine white sheet covering her parted legs, shadows of people silently flitting about before her. She watched, still desperately trying to catch her breath, as a faceless nurse approached her from the darkness, a bundle as bright as sunlight cradled in her arms.

  
  


“It's a baby girl,” the unknown nurse crowed as she handed her the squirming bundle.

  
  


Sakura could feel hot tears building in her eyes as she reached out to reverently take her baby girl into her arms. She was speechless as she settled her baby into her embrace, her tears finally breaking free from her eyes and slipping down her cheeks as she gazed upon her daughter for the first time.

  
  


She was so beautiful, a small tuft of ebony hair peeking out from the scarlet blanket she was wrapped in. Sakura's hands trembled as she reached out to brush the dark strands away from her daughter's closed eyes.

  
  


“She's so beautiful...” Madara whispered from beside her, Sakura smiling at the sound of her lover's voice.

  
  


“Our baby girl…” he continued, reaching out to touch their daughter.

  
  


Sakura's eyes widened in horror at the sight of her lover's blood soaked hands reaching forward to touch their child. His fingertips left smears of liquid crimson across their baby's blanket.

  
  


Before Sakura could speak, their daughter's eyes finally snapped open, revealing blazing red irises that pulled her in like a whirlpool. Her vision darkened as she was pulled away once again.

  
  


Without warning, Sakura was suddenly looking up a gradual hill that peaked at a crest of a cliffside. Standing at the edge of the cliff was Madara and Hashirama, both of them wearing strange, dated clothes. They both turned around to greet her with bright smiles, ones that she couldn't help but return.

  
  


After all, they had finally accomplished their dream of peace. They should all be happy.

  
  


She walked up to them until she was standing between them, looking out at the beautiful, colorful village that spanned below their feet. Hashirama affectionately patted her on the shoulder twice before Madara lovingly pulled her against his side.

  
  


“Look at what we've accomplished, my love,” the dark haired male hummed in satisfaction as they all looked out at the peaceful village below.

  
  


“It's wonderful,” she whispered in awe, leaning into Madara's embrace.

  
  


When she looked up at her husband, they shared a warm smile before she was once again drawn in by crimson eyes.

  
  


* * *

  
  


Sakura bolted upright with a gasp, covered in a cold sweat and panting. She took a deep breath and dropped her face into her palm once she realized she was at home, lying down on her couch. She reached up to investigate the strange wetness on her cheeks and realized she had been crying in her sleep.

  
  


She lifted her head to look at her blinds as she wiped her of her cheeks and recognized the light of the midday sun. She checked the time on the clock on her wall and was shocked to find that she had slept nearly eight hours.

  
  


Sakura immediately grabbed her phone from her coffee table and was relieved to find that, aside from a couple of texts from Ino and Tenten and a handful of emails, she had no messages. She hoped that everything was going well with Izuna and, when that thought crossed her mind, her internal struggle from before returned full force.

  
  


Sakura ripped off the sweaty blanket that was tangled around her legs and fell back against the couch to catch her breath, her eyes sliding shut for a long few moments. When her eyes finally opened again, she stared up at the strips of light on her ceiling, cast by the sun leaking in through her blinds.

  
  


The dream had felt so real...

  
  


It had made such little sense. She was already starting to forget sections and she was unable to piece it together anymore. She could hardly remember the words that were spoken to her but some parts couldn't be forgotten. She couldn't forget seeing herself holding Sasuke's dead body. That strange man and woman with mortal wounds thanking her for something. Madara's hands covered in blood as he reached out to touch their baby.

  
  


All the sets of piercing crimson eyes...

  
  


Sakura shook her head as she finally sat back up, her breathing and her heart having finally settled into a normal rhythm in her chest. It was just a stupid dream. It was just her brain trying to sort out her current troubles, nothing more. Nothing to look too deeply into.

  
  


She stood from her place on her couch to grab another glass of water, flipping on the kitchen light as she went. She downed the glass in one go before filling it once again. She pulled herself up onto her counter, perching on the edge of the tile as she set her glass down next to her.

  
  


Taking a moment to gather her scattered thoughts and figure out what she was going to say, Sakura scrolled through the contacts on her phone once again before tapping on a familiar name. The phone rang three times before being picked up.

  
  


“Hey,” Izumi greeted through the speaker.

  
  


“Hey, Izumi. How's Izuna's sprained ankle doing?” Sakura asked, careful of how she spoke over the phone.

  
  


“He's, uh. Well, he's okay. But he's very insistent on getting a drink and we're worried he's going to... re-sprain his ankle. Should we just let him get a drink?”

  
  


Sakura sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose between her thumb and forefinger.

  
  


“He can drink beer but no hard liquor,” the doctor conceded, knowing that Izuna was an alcoholic and withdrawal could be more damaging to his state at the moment than drinking a few beers.

  
  


Before Izumi could reply, Sakura could hear Izuna yell in the background, “Give me some more of your pills you stingy fuck!”

  
  


Obito's voice mercilessly returned with, “Eat a bowl of dicks, you punk ass addict!”

  
  


“That’s fucking hilarious coming from you, pill junkie!”

  
  


Sakura groaned as Izumi sighed wearily on the other side of the line.

  
  


“Do not let him overdose, please. Alcohol will make the effects of the opiates far more intense. He can stop breathing or fall and re-sprain his ankle,” the doctor informed, shaking her head in exasperation.

  
  


“Sure thing, Doc. And, uh…” Izumi started before pausing for a long moment, “I hope I see you again soon.”

  
  


Sakura got the feeling it wasn't what Izumi wanted to say but didn't address it.

  
  


“Take care of him,” was all the she said in response before hanging up the phone.

  
  


Sakura watched as her screen flashed and returned to the home screen on her phone. She quietly stared down at the background of her phone, gazing at the picture of her and Madara at the Sound Four concert, one of their first dates. It was just a couple months ago but it felt like a lifetime to her now...

  
  


Her gaze flicked over the artfully taken photo of her held high in his arms and her cradling his face as they kissed. She could feel her heart rate pick up at just the memory of that moment. The memory of the adrenaline from the fight with those creeps and the passion from their kiss. How strong his arms had felt holding her up, how warm he had felt against her...

  
  


They looked so in love.

  
  


Sakura clicked the power button on her phone, watching as the picture flashed to black. She set the device to the side as she dropped her face back into her hands.

  
  


She still didn't know what to do, what to say.

  
  


Sakura decided that she simply needed more time to think, more time to come up with what she was going to do. She didn't want to make a rash decision. She wanted to make the right choice… Whatever it may be.

  
  


Sliding off of her counter, she began setting up her coffee pot and going about making herself a proper meal. Maybe if she ate something, she would be able to decide...

  
  


As she ate, her thoughts continued to rush through her mind. When she tried to study, she couldn't focus on the material. When she tried to read her novel, the words might as well have been in another language. When she tried to watch TV, the images on the screen were little more than pretty colors.

  
  


Curling up on the couch and staring at the pictures flashing across the screen, Sakura finally succumbed to her thoughts. By the time night finally fell and the only light in her home came from the lamp in her living room and the light from her kitchen, Sakura remained curled up in her same spot, wrapped around the pillow that still smelled like Madara and trying to decide if she ever wanted to see him again.

  
  


* * *

  
  


Sakura finally dragged herself to bed around midnight, still struggling with her thoughts. Despite having spent the entire day trying to sort through her thoughts and emotions, she felt no closer to finding an answer.

  
  


Despite her lingering exhaustion, she could not find sleep. She tossed and turned for hours, unable to drift off with her thoughts still tumbling in her mind.

  
  


She loved him. Gods, she loved him so much. But now that she knew what he was, what he did... Now that she knew the truth of their war... Now that she knew the truth of his life...

  
  


Sakura rolled over for the hundredth time and checked the time on her phone. Three AM.

  
  


She unlocked her phone to double check that there weren't any messages and, just finding the same texts from Ino and Tenten, she sighed quietly. Her gaze caught on the picture of her and Madara on the background of her phone, her stomach twisting.

  
  


For what felt like another handful of hours, she stared at the picture of them. Her thoughts continued to tumble mercilessly in her mind but, in that moment, she felt like she finally knew what she needed to do. The decision she _had_ to make.

  
  


Her heart clenched in her chest as she thought she finally realized what was best for them both. For better or for worse, she thought she knew what she had to do.

  
  


With her stomach rolling in anxiety, she opened up her texts and clicked on a familiar name attached to a familiar string of messages.

  
  


‘ _We need to talk. Can you come over?’_

  
  


Madara's response was immediate.

  
  


‘ _I’ll be there in ten minutes’_

  
  


* * *

  
  


Madara couldn't find sleep no matter what he had tried.

  
  


He should have been more comforted by the fact that Izuna had survived the night. That his brother had survived at all. That his only remaining blood sibling would live. No matter what he did, however, Madara couldn't stop thinking about Sakura. About their conversation, about how he had revealed everything to her. The truth about the club’s past as well as his own. The truth about what the club was and about who he was.

  
  


She had been horrified by the reality of who he was and her reaction had made him sick to his stomach.

  
  


What had he expected?

  
  


Madara had tried to sleep that night as she looked after Izuna but found that he couldn't find even a moment of rest, laid out in the bed in his flop room only a room away from his brother and lover. Could he even consider her that anymore?

  
  


He was so lost in his thoughts, in wondering whether she was going to decide to leave him or not, that he couldn't find sleep. He had instead relegated himself to the bar in the clubhouse, unable to come up with the energy to do much more than sit at the bar and toy with a coaster as he remained trapped in his head.

  
  


When Sakura had finally emerged from Izuna's room early that morning, Madara had hoped that she had made her decision. When she finally looked at him, when their eyes finally met after her conversation with Itachi and Izumi on how to take care of Izuna, he had hoped that she would give him that same loving smile she always did. That he could slide off of that stool and join her as they returned home.

  
  


That everything was okay...

  
  


Madara felt like he had been punched in the gut when she instead looked away and hurried out the door that much faster.

  
  


He had wondered if that was a no.

  
  


After an equally stressful day at the clubhouse, Madara had returned to his own home late that night. He had fallen into bed, certain his exhaustion would allow him to sleep, but he found that rest evaded him still.

  
  


His sleeplessness clawed at his senses, leaving him feeling lifeless and dim. His eyes burned, even though he had replaced his contacts with his glasses long ago, the glass frames lying on his bedside table as he struggled to sleep.

  
  


Madara had thought that trying to sleep in his own bed would help but it did exactly the opposite. His bed felt too cold, too large, and too empty without Sakura to fill it. His pillowcase still smelled like her floral shampoo and he found himself lying on the side that was hers that night.

  
  


He had dragged himself out of bed, grabbing his glasses as he went, when he realized that trying to sleep was a fruitless endeavor. He instead found himself sitting on his couch at three AM, his TV playing some war documentary at a low volume, as he swiped through the pictures of Sakura he had saved on his phone.

  
  


The picture of her sleeping soundly and bundled up in blankets in the passenger side of his truck during their date at the drive in theater. The picture of them both at the Sound Four concert, her held high in his arms as they kissed after fighting those cretins. The picture of her cherry red lipstick print on his neck that he had woken up the morning after. A picture of him holding her close as she wore her cap and gown, having graduated from medical school. Numerous selfies that she had sent him while at work, at the gym, or at home, all of which he had saved...

  
  


The Uchiha sighed, ashamed that he had become so attached to Sakura in such a short period of time. He had known that this was never going to last but he had let himself fall in love anyways. She was a doctor, she was so wholly good, she was a goddess of a woman. And he was the president of a 1% motorcycle club, an outlaw, a criminal. It was never going to work out and the fact that they had made it work for as long as they had had been a miracle.

  
  


He clicked the power button on his phone, dropping the device into his lap as his bleary gaze settled onto the war documentary playing in front of him. Even though his eyes remained on the screen, he couldn't find it in him to care about the story of one of the numerous wars he had spent six years at Konoha University studying. There was nothing this documentary could tell him that he didn't already know. As if he cared if they could.

  
  


Madara's phone pinged once in his lap and, even though he knew it was just a message from one of his club mates, he felt a thrill of excitement. Tamping down his ridiculous reaction, he scooped up his phone to figure out whoever had texted him at three in the morning.

  
  


When he read the name on his screen, he was shocked to see that the message was from Sakura. He unlocked his phone and, when he read that she wanted him to come over, his response was immediate.

  
  


Madara didn't bother to put in his contacts, instead deciding to wear his glasses. He did go through the effort to change out of his pajamas and into a clean pair of jeans and a clean shirt. When he grabbed his cut, however, he paused as he considered whether or not he should wear it. His thumb ran over the collar of his leather in consideration before he pulled the familiar weight onto his shoulders.

  
  


He couldn't lie to her now. He couldn't pretend he was something he wasn't. She knew the truth about him now, there was no hiding from her any longer.

  
  


He gathered the keys to his truck and his wallet, shoving them into the pockets of his cut, before he slipped on his boots. He was out the door a moment later, pulling himself into the driver's seat of his truck and pulling out of his garage.

  
  


As he drove to Sakura's apartment, his heart pounded in his chest. He wondered what she was going to say, what her answer was. He hoped that her asking him to meet her meant she was going to say she wanted to stay with him but he also knew that she was the kind of person who would want to do the polite thing and say goodbye in person.

  
  


When he turned down a familiar road which would take him all the way to her apartment complex, the song Walk on the Water by Creedence Clearwater Revival began to play through his speakers. He nearly laughed at the irony of it. The song that had been playing in his truck when they had gone on their first date had begun to play as he drove to her house in the dead of night to see if he could call her his old lady any longer. It almost felt like an bad omen, like hearing Sakura's answer before it even passed her lips.

  
  


Madara turned down the volume of his stereo, not wanting to think about fate's cruelty in that moment.

  
  


He pulled up outside of her complex, parking his truck on the curb and hopping out. The air was chilled as he made his way up to her apartment and made him wish he had had the foresight to put on a jacket beneath his cut. He shook off the thought as he ascended the stone staircase to the Sakura's apartment and stood in front of her door.

  
  


Madara raised his hand and knocked on the wood twice, taking a step back as he waited for her to answer. When he heard the lock twist in the door just a few moments later, anxiety began to build within him.

  
  


Sakura opened the door and they made eye contact through the crack for a moment that seemed to stretch on for eternity. She finally looked down before stepping back and opening the door, silently inviting him into her home.

  
  


When he entered her apartment, one that was warmer, smelled better, and felt infinitely more like home than his own house, he noticed that she appeared to have just crawled out of bed. Her hair was a mess, her eyes were bleary, and she was dressed in her pajamas. But not her normal pajamas.

  
  


She wasn't wearing one of his shirts like she always did when they slept.

  
  


The realization felt like more proof that she was preparing the leave him and, even without her having yet to speak a word, he felt all the more resigned.

  
  


Sakura gently closed the door behind him, the doorknob shutting with a soft click. She paused for a moment before she turned to face him. She wrung her hands together and continued to stare at the ground, her lips parted and her lungs full as if prepared to speak. He remained silent as she gathered her thoughts, quietly steeling himself for her goodbye as he pushed his glasses to seat higher on the bridge of his nose.

  
  


“I need to know if you really want peace,” Sakura finally blurted out, her viridian orbs shooting up to meet his gaze.

  
  


Madara blinked once as his eyebrows furrowed in confusion, not having expected her sudden question.

  
  


“Of course I do... Ever since I was a child, it's all I wanted for my family,” he answered honestly.

  
  


“What are you doing to bring it?” Sakura continued, her voice slowly growing stronger.

  
  


“Everything I can.”

  
  


“Like what? You-you say you want peace but what are you doing to bring it? Or what are you doing to prevent the war from getting worse?” Sakura questioned bluntly before quickly adding on, “I know everything now so don't lie to me. Tell me the truth.”

  
  


Madara didn't bother with half truths when he answered her.

  
  


“You already know about the treaty that Hashirama and I attempted. You don't know about the hits that I've called off, retaliations that I've quashed, or debts that I've taken onto myself. Ties to allies that I've severed. Jobs that I've turned down, deals that I've refused, customers that I've turned away because their influence would spell more violence in the future,” he explained firmly, detailing just a part of his efforts to avoid an escalation to the war. The actions he could afford to take to protect his family.

  
  


Madara's tone softened but his words were no less firm when he continued, “Every decision I make as president is carefully analyzed to prevent more of my family members, even more Senju, from being killed.”

  
  


“But what about the president of the Senju MC? What is he doing? Does he want peace like you do?”

  
  


“I believe he does.”

  
  


Sakura's eyebrows furrowed deeply. “And what makes you have so much faith in him?”

  
  


“Even with our war, Hashirama's dealing have proven to me that he still wants peace in the same way that I do,” Madara explained, unsure of how to explain to Sakura the unspoken faith he had in the man he had once called his best friend.

  
  


“Then why does this war keep going? If both of you want it to stop, why hasn't it?” Sakura interrogated, her tone becoming more heated as she pressed for answers.

  
  


“Because we're only two men at the heads of organizations that contain hundreds of people. I don't _command_ my family, I lead them. The timing needs to be right...” the Uchiha frowned deeply as he spoke, “There needs to be some sort of a catalyst for change. I want peace but my family has to want it too. I was chosen to be president and my chance to put an end to this war will disappear if I am told to step down by forcing peace.”

  
  


“What kind of catalyst could change the minds of hundreds of people? What single event could possibly put an end to a hundred years of _bad blood_?”

  
  


“I don't know yet,” Madara admitted honestly.

  
  


If he knew what it would take, he would have taken advantage of it long ago.

  
  


“Then how could you possibly predict an end to this bloodshed? How can you ever hope to make a difference?” Sakura demanded, her eyes alight with barely withheld emotion, frustrated tears beginning to build in the corners of her eyes.

  
  


Her words struck a chord within the Uchiha president, immediately dragging the anger from his hopeless situation to the surface. She had no idea what he would do to create a life free from violence for his family. A world where none of his club would have to worry about the crest on their back becoming a target in the wrong company. A reality where the people he loved would no longer be massacred simply for the last name they shared or their shared past.

  
  


She had no idea the sacrifices he had made, the things he had done, in pursuit of this dream. He could not doubt himself in his dream and her doubt in him hit a tender note within him.

  
  


Madara scowled as he shot back, “There is no maybe when it comes to ending this war. I _will_ put an end to the carnage, I _will_ bring a truce, and I _will_ do whatever it takes to save my family because there is no other way. I refuse to allow my dream to die and my family along with it!”

  
  


His sudden vehemence made Sakura's eyes widen in surprise but her viridian eyes soon narrowed in challenge.

  
  


“Like beating, torturing, and killing people?” she confronted, staring into his eyes and refusing to be cowed as she gave a voice to his atrocities.

  
  


Madara's shoulders sagged, the tension he hadn't realized was building within his form abating as the breath was stolen from his lungs at her bold declaration. He took a steeling breath, calming himself as he gathered his thoughts.

  
  


“I don't want that life for my family any longer...” he replied sincerely, his fervor from before melting away in the face of her accusation, “Peace through violence isn't possible. It never has been. Not in my lifetime, not in my father's lifetime, not in my grandfather's lifetime... I want to put an end to it all.”

  
  


Sakura's own fierce expression melted away to something softer, something sadder, as her gaze sunk to the floor. She nodded silently as she stared into her carpet, as if considering. She took a deep breath, one that could be heard clearly in the deafening silence of her living room, as her eyes slid shut. Her hands fisted at her sides as the tension rising within her became visible in her small body.

  
  


When she finally spoke, her words were soft yet sharp.

  
  


“What you do, what you’ve done… it terrifies me…” she whispered, her eyes still tightly closed, “It horrifies me that anyone could do such appalling things, let alone you...”

  
  


Madara's heart dropped into his stomach.

  
  


This was it... Her goodbye.

  
  


He knew he only had so long with Sakura but he had wanted more. He didn't think the end of their relationship would come so soon. The time he had had with her hadn't been enough. He'd never felt like this before, he'd never loved anyone like he loved her. Sakura made him happy in a way he had never felt before. She gave him the strength to continue onward, to keep pushing for peace no matter what it had cost him. Her love had felt like home, like hope, like a happy ending to a bitter tale.

  
  


He would respect her decision no matter what it was but...

  
  


Madara dropped his head as he waited for Sakura's goodbye.

  
  


_Not yet..._

  
  


“But...” she whispered, that one solitary word igniting a spark of hope in his chest as his eyes shot upwards to gaze at her face.

  
  


Sakura's eyes slid open, a sudden determination in her expression as she met his gaze confidently. Her eyes were misty, unshed tears gathering in the edges of her eyes, but her stance was strong.

  
  


“I believe you,” she stated simply.

  
  


“You... believe me?” Madara parroted back, not only unsure if he had heard her correctly but unsure of the meaning behind her words.

  
  


“Or, I... I believe _in_ you I believe that you want peace between the clubs and that you’re working towards it. That you can accomplish it and...” she struggled to amend, her gaze flicking across the ground as she struggled for words, before her expression transformed into one of decisiveness once again, “And I want to help!”

  
  


“Help?” the Uchiha returned, baffled, before questioning, “ _Why_?”

  
  


“Because the thought of losing you or Sasuke or anyone… it terrifies me more than anything else. The thought of losing you forever, whether it’s you dying o-or…” Sakura's voice lost some of its strength, her speech becoming soft and strained as she wrapped her arms around herself. “I can’t do it. I couldn't live with myself if any of you died when I could have been there to save you. I would give anything, my job, my title, anything, if it meant saving even one of your lives...”

  
  


Madara's heart swelled in his chest as she spoke. He remained silent, unable to swallow back the lump slowly building in his throat.

  
  


“I can't let any of you die by abandoning you... I want to stay. I want peace. And I can help. I want to help end this, to keep you all safe how I can. Like with Izuna.”

  
  


“Sakura, I-” the Uchiha tried to start, his voice labored.

  
  


“But...” Sakura interrupted quickly before pausing as she considered her next words, “But I have one condition...”

  
  


_Anything._ “What's your condition?”

  
  


“You never keep secrets from me. If I'm here, if I'm involving myself in your war, you need to tell me everything. You never keep anything from me again. You never tell me that 'it's nothing to worry about', you don't lie to me, you don't keep the truth from me,” she declared, her voice thick with emotion as she gazed into his eyes unblinkingly, “It's all or nothing with me.”

  
  


“Are you sure you want this?” Madara began, needing to know that she truly wanted this and wasn't just saying so because of fear of consequences, “You can leave, if you want. Forget any of this ever happened... Forget about me... No one would blame you for it. I wouldn't blame you for it. You'll be safe, I promise you.”

  
  


“No,” Sakura replied firmly, not tearing her eyes away from his.

  
  


“No?” Madara returned, eyebrows furrowing at her simple yet unwavering reply.

  
  


“I'm not leaving you all to die!” She took a deep breath, gathering herself, before asking with finality, “Do you accept my condition?”

  
  


The Uchiha stared at her in wonder, unable to tear his eyes away from her determined expression, shining through her misty gaze. He could hardly believe what he was hearing. Not only was the woman he loved wanting to remain with him but she was offering to help him fight for peace. She was offering to help his family, to save the lives of those he cared about most in this world...

  
  


“Of course...” he muttered, feeling as the wellspring of hope building in his chest rose to a fever pitch.

  
  


The silence between them stretched on, their hearts pounding so loudly that one could hear it in the oppressive silence of her apartment. Their breaths came fast, fueled by their racing hearts. Tension was heavy in the air, weighing down their lungs even more than the weight of the words they had shared. The promise they had made.

  
  


Madara wanted to touch her. He wanted to reach out and make sure that she was real, make sure this was real. To convince himself this wasn't some dream he had conjured for himself as he laid unconscious on his couch at home.

  
  


He tentatively took a half step forward, his hand twitching at his side as he struggled over whether or not he was allowed to reach out to her. Not a moment later, like a wave crashing against the shore, Sakura lurched forward and crashed into his chest. When her arms looped tightly around his neck, the breath he hadn't realized he had been holding left him in a burst. As did all of the tension that had been building within him.

  
  


His arms wrapped around her middle, pulling her more firmly against his chest. A part of him was concerned he was holding her too tightly but, when she nestled into the place against his chest that he swore had been made for her, the rest of his concerns washed away. His palm cradled the back of her head, holding her against him, as he nuzzled the crown of her head.

  
  


Madara held her strongly, unwilling to let go as he basked in her warmth, her scent, the feeling of her body against his. This was real. His heart flew with joy in his chest.

  
  


Sakura felt like coming home...

  
  


She was perfect, she was a goddess. The gods had to have made them for one another. She was going to help him accomplish his dreams of peace. She had saved his brother's life. She would save the lives of anyone she could, any of his family members that were in danger, because she loved him. Because she loved his family, the most important thing in the world to him...

  
  


He had never loved and never would love anyone like he loved her. In that moment, he realized he would do anything for her. That, for the rest of his life, he belonged to her. No matter what happened from that moment forward... He would be hers forever.

  
  


“I love you,” Madara finally gasped against her hair, finally saying what he had wanted to tell her yesterday but couldn't.

  
  


“I love you,” Sakura whimpered against him, her voice muffled against his chest as she began to tremble in his arms.

  
  


He could feel as her shoulders began to shake, tears slowly slipping free from her careful control as she tried to conceal her sniffles.

  
  


“Oh, darling...” he breathed, pulling her into his arms so he could hold her more fully, “My love, don't cry...”

  
  


His glasses hung awkwardly on his face as he pressed his face against her hairline, the arms of his glasses digging into his temples.

  
  


Sakura's arms tightened around him as she buried her face into his chest, hiding her tears from him even as they began to pour down her cheeks and soak the front of his shirt.

  
  


“Please, I... I can't lose you... I can't lose any of you...” she cried softly.

  
  


“I'll never leave you,” he assure in a low tone, his breath puffing against her ear as he nuzzled her hairline.

  
  


“Promise?” Sakura pulled away just enough to look into his eyes, blinking back her tears.

  
  


“I promise,” Madara vowed, gazing into her eyes.

  
  


When she pressed a sloppy kiss to his lips, one that was more tears and hiccups than anything else, it felt like the most meaningful kiss of his life.

  
  


When they parted, she buried herself against him, her warm, soft body tightly wrapped around him. He quietly lifted her into his arms and carried her to her bed, his lover only releasing him to allow him to lay her out across the mattress. He pulled away to strip his cut from his shoulders, hanging the leather on the edge of one of the drawers to her dresser.

  
  


Madara didn't bother to change his clothes, uncaring about his lack of comfortable attire. He instead laid down next to Sakura in his jeans and long sleeved shirt, happily accepting his lover back into his embrace. She wrapped herself around him, nearly lying on top of him in her need to be as close to him as she could. He circled his arms around her, bringing her as close to him as he could.

  
  


He never wanted to be away from her again and couldn't even bear the thought of her not being in his arms at that moment.

  
  


He only broke their embrace long enough to slip off his glasses and set them on her bedside table.

  
  


With the exhaustion of the last couple days dragging at their senses and with them both finally being reunited once again, both of the lovers quickly began to succumb to the gentle tugging of sleep. His fingertips traced a nonsensical pattern across her covered skin, basking in the sensation of her warmth leaching through her clothes as he began to drift.

  
  


“Sakura?” Madara suddenly whispered, breaking the comfortable quiet of Sakura's bedroom.

  
  


“Yes?” she hummed against his chest, her breath warm against his skin even through his shirt.

  
  


“Do you think you could do me a favor tomorrow and tell Izumi I'm not abusing you?”

  
  


“ _What_?” Sakura parroted, her tone becoming less sleepy as she processed what he had asked of her.

  
  


“She saw the bruises on your wrists and jumped me with a crowbar after you left this morning...” Madara admitted.

  
  


There was a heartbeat of silence before Sakura snorted, her sudden giggles feeling like a cathartic release. He couldn't help but join in on her laughter, their shared amusement finally making the night feel somehow normal. Like they were coming back to their old selves. Or rather, like they were becoming their new selves.

  
  


They had made the decision to stick together, to end this war together. From then on, there would be no more secrets between them. Only love.

  
  


“I will... We can go to the clubhouse tomorrow...” Sakura declared, smiling against his skin, “Together.”

  
  


_Together._

  
  


Madara smiled in return, nuzzling the crown of her head as he held her tightly.

  
  


The lovers easily fell asleep together, wrapped up in each others' arms, at home against each others' bodies.

 

 


	17. Parents

Madara pulled up outside of Sakura’s apartment complex, downshifting his bike before parking next to the curb. He twisted his handlebar to the side, popping his tire against the curb, and kicked down the stand as he switched the engine to off. As the deafening sound of his engine died down, a sound all too familiar to him, his gaze turned up to the porch that he knew belonged to Sakura.

  
  


He couldn’t help the smile that spread across his lips, his excitement building as he stood from his bike and removed the bouquet he had carefully stored in the saddle bag. He straightened out the stems and petals, trying to make the flowers more presentable after being stuffed into such a tight space for his ride here.

  
  


He had thought that he would surprise his old lady with a visit and a present to try to show her how much her acceptance and her love meant to him. He never thought he’d be capable of finding the words to express how much he treasured her after all she had done for him and his family, after saving Izuna’s life, after staying with him through all of the darkness that surrounded him, and after she promised to stay by his side to help end the war.

  
  


Madara could not stop thinking about her and, even with the war escalating around him and even with more death and violence in the future, he had finally found a ray of happiness. He felt as if he had found a goddess to stand by his side and getting her a few flowers and surprising her with a visit seemed like such a paltry offering.

  
  


Even if he had to overcome quite the hurdle to acquire the complex bouquet he cradled in his arms as he walked up to her apartment.

  
  


The MC president had stopped by one of the flower shops on his way to her apartment, the sprawling store containing more plants and flowers than he had ever seen in his life. Overwhelmed by all of the choices, he had tried to purchase a simple bouquet of red roses.

  
  


He had been in for a shock when a startlingly familiar voice had chided him on such a cliche choice and, when he had turned around, he was surprised to find his old lady’s friend sitting behind the counter. The same woman who, when they had accidentally met, had openly ogled at his shirtless form as he lounged across Sakura’s couch and the same woman who had told him to inform his ‘single family members’ of her own single status.

  
  


Without Sakura and her group of friends to buffer the exchange between them, Madara quickly came to realize that that Ino, a name he finally discovered from her name tag, was much like his own Hellcat: a force of nature hidden behind the guise of a delicate woman.

  
  


He had left the shop with a beautiful and intricately arranged bouquet made up of flowers in shades of red and pink with white accents. While he had left with the prize he sought, he felt startlingly drained by the energetic and demanding presence of the _wolf_ at the flower shop.

  
  


After all he had to go through to get it, he just hoped Sakura would like the bundle of flowers in his arms. Further than that, he hoped his offering would help buffer the impact of a very important question he had to ask her as well.

  
  


It had only been a week since the surgery she had performed on Izuna but, undoubtedly, the Senju MC knew he had survived the attack. They also knew he wasn’t behind bars so they could assume he hadn’t been taken to the hospital. That only left one option: Sakura.

  
  


She was his old lady and Sasuke’s best friend and, as such, was tightly bound to his family. She had also just graduated medical school and had aspirations to be a surgeon. The Senju will know that it was Sakura who had saved Izuna’s life and, considering she still remained at his side, they will know she was allied with his club. Something that would make Sakura an enemy of the Senju MC.

  
  


Something that could make her a target…

  
  


The thought of Sakura, alone at her apartment and exposed, left Madara feeling deeply uneasy. He wanted to be there to protect her in case something happened, in case Hashirama or that bastard Tobirama decided to abandon their unspoken agreement and send someone after her. In case the Senju decided to use her against him to win the war.

  
  


With these thoughts swarming in his mind, Madara had come to a simple conclusion: He would ask Sakura to move in with him. With her always at his side, or at least far closer to the clubhouse and his family so she could always have someone nearby to help, she would be far safer from the Senju.

  
  


It was so early in their relationship, not to mention how much stress she had been under recently, that he worried he was pushing her too fast. She had already bore witness to so much darkness that he was concerned she would outright refuse him.

  
  


As Madara stopped in front of Sakura’s front door, he took a moment to settle his nerves. He raised his hand and rapped against the door with his knuckle a few times and patiently waited for her to answer.

  
  


When the door finally opened and Sakura gazed up at him with a displeased and anxious expression, his lover halfway hiding herself behind the door, his smile dropped.

  
  


“What’s wrong?” he asked immediately, suddenly self conscious of the bundle of flowers cradled in his arms.

  
  


“I, uh…” Sakura’s gaze flicked to the flowers, shock showing on her face, before she looked up at him, “My parents are here right now…”

  
  


“Your-” he began, somehow surprised, before a unfamiliar woman’s voice interrupted him.

  
  


“Who’s at the door, dear?” a feminine voice with a deep accent called out in an impatient tone, “Just tell them to come back later!”

  
  


“Would you like for me to leave?” Madara asked, trying to keep the emotion out of his voice.

  
  


He felt a raw pain at the thought that his old lady didn’t want him to meet her parents. He was an old biker after all, a one percenter, not an honest man that a woman brought home to meet their parents. Sure, she may have accepted his true self and his past and she may love him, but introducing him to her parents was-

  
  


“Could you please stay?” Sakura immediately pleaded in a quiet tone, his eyebrows shooting up in surprise, “I don’t want to put you through it but I… My parents and I don’t get along and I would feel a lot better with you here with me.”

  
  


“Anything for you,” he mumbled back without a second thought, shock welling within him.

  
  


She… _wanted_ him to meet her parents? She _wanted_ him to be there? Even with all they had shared, the promises they had made, he could hardly believe she actually wanted him to be introduced to her parents at all.

  
  


When she turned to head back inside, Madara snapped out of his daze. “Wait.”

  
  


“What, what’s wrong?” Sakura returned, her anxiety returning to her expression before it disappeared as he handed her the intricate bouquet.

  
  


He cleared his throat as she delicately took the bundle of flowers. “I got this for you, hellcat.”

  
  


She stared down at the flowers for a moment before a small smile spread across her lips. When she looked back up at him, his heart nearly skipped a beat with the sweetness behind her gaze.

  
  


“Thank you, Dara. They’re beautiful,” she thanked before stepping forward to lean up and press a tender kiss to his lips.

  
  


A contented smile spread across his lips at her affection and he felt infinitely more confident as he followed his old lady into her apartment to meet her parents.

  
  


An impatient looking woman with dark blonde hair and a man with dull pink locks were perched on the edge of Sakura’s couch, the woman’s arms and legs crossed and the man resting his chin on his palm. They both perked up upon seeing him, their eyes widening as their gazes snapped from the bouquet of flowers held in their daughter’s arms to the leather cut draped across his shoulders.

  
  


“Hello, Mr. and Ms. Haruno,” Madara began politely, “My name-”

  
  


“Oh my _gods_ , Sakura!” the blonde woman shrieked, startling the Uchiha, before she turned to glare at her daughter, “My coworker wasn’t lying!? Have you lost your damn mind!?”

  
  


“Mebuki, sweetheart, please calm down,” the man tried, gently patting the woman on the knee, “If our girl is with him, he must be a halfway decent man. Even with what his kind does”

  
  


Madara blinked once, caught off guard.

  
  


“Don’t tell me how to act, Kizashi! Sakura obviously doesn’t know any better! She’s still just a child who hasn't learned anything about the real world without me there to guide her!” Sakura’s mother, Mebuki, shot back to her husband with a glare that was identical to Sakura’s own familiar glower.

  
  


“I’m twenty-five years old! I was an RN for four years! I graduated from med school, I’m a damn doctor now!” Sakura yelled in exasperation.

  
  


“Be that as it may, you’re my daughter before anything else! After all I did to raise you, you _should_ know better than to be _cavorting_ with men like him!” the blonde chastised, jabbing a finger at Sakura.

  
  


Madara frowned deeply, somehow knowing what Mebuki had meant to say instead.

  
  


“You don’t even know him! You’ve literally just met him!” she returned, pointing back at her mother with the bouquet before grimacing at a few petals which flew off of the delicate flowers. She pulled the bundle of flowers close with a distressed expression.

  
  


“And he's so much older than you! He’s closer to our age than yours and-oh gods,” Mebuki gasped, covering her mouth with her hand before demanding, “Sakura, is he _forcing_ you?”

  
  


“Ms. Haruno, _please_ ,” Madara finally spoke, unwilling to hear anyone speak so lowly of Sakura and himself any longer, “I would never force Sakura to do anything. I think of nothing but her safety and happiness. I know there is a great amount of negative perceptions surrounding my family but we are not mindless monsters.”

  
  


“You say this, but what are you doing with my daughter? What do you expect from her?” the blonde challenged, crossing her arms across her chest once again as she glowered up at him with open hatred in her eyes.

  
  


“I don’t want or expect anything from her. I’m just happy that she’s with me,” he answered honestly even though he could feel anger rapidly building within him.

  
  


“Why? What does someone like _you_ get out of it?”

  
  


“The same thing anyone gets from a relationship,” he turned to face Sakura, “I love her and being with her makes me happy.”

  
  


“I love you too, Dara,” Sakura returned with a warm smile just for him, reaching out to grasp his hand.

  
  


Madara smiled back as he squeezed her hand, hoping to comfort her under the abuse of her own mother.

  
  


“So you’re the president to then, huh?” Kizashi asked, finally speaking while Mebuki gritted her teeth at the open affection between Madara and her daughter.

  
  


“Yes, I am. My name is Madara Uchiha,” he replied, finally able to introduce himself properly.

  
  


“I know what your kind does. You may think you love her but what are you doing to keep her safe?” the pink haired man questioned, narrowing his eyes at the Uchiha.

  
  


“Everything I can,” Madara replied firmly.

 

“Even from your own 'brothers'?” Kizashi continued.

 

Rage flared hot within Madara at this man speaking so lowly about his family, the men and women alike who were most precious to him. He refused to allow his anger to escape into his tone although the firmness of his voice brokered no argument. “My family would do anything to protect Sakura.”

  
  


Kizashi hummed before nodding slowly.

  
  


“Good news then. Despite me, or rather my wife and I, thinking of our baby girl as being just that we need to remember that she’s a grown woman capable of making her own choices,” he explained before placing his palm on his wife’s knee, “Right, dear?”

  
  


“Shameful choices. What if they decide to get married? What if our grandchild is some bastard child with this…” Mebuki scowled at Madara, looking him up and down with open distaste, before spitting out, “ _Biker_. That would ruin our family image!”

  
  


Madara kept his rising ager out of his expression, instead maintaining a look of careful neutrality. Despite how much he disliked this woman, a mother who had no respect for her own incredible daughter, he would not allow his own emotions to make this situation worse for the woman he loved.

  
  


“I doubt it’ll go that far, sweetie, this is just a phase,” Kizashi answered, as if to comfort his wife, “Our baby girl is too smart to stick around for long with someone like him.”

  
  


Damn… And here he was thinking he liked the man for half a second...

  
  


“Ugh, fine. I am so incredibly disappointed in you, Sakura, but I suppose everyone needs to make their own mistakes,” Mebuki berated, standing from her spot on Sakura’s couch and looking down at her daughter, “I expect better from you after everything I’ve done to raise you right. You better not give up your career as a doctor for whatever... _this_ is.”

  
  


“You can leave now,” Sakura returned harshly, glaring back at her own mother.

  
  


The blonde huffed before turning and striding towards the door, calmly opening the door and stepping out. She left without even bothering to say goodbye, her husband closely following behind.

  
  


“Er, take care, sweetie. I love you! Make good decisions!” the pink haired man called out as he followed his wife out the door, Sakura not even bothering to respond to his declaration of love.

  
  


Kizashi closed the door behind him with a gentle click, the quiet noise sounding overwhelmingly loud in the silence Sakura’s parents left behind in their departure. Madara frowned deeply, finally releasing a tension he hadn’t even realized had developed in his shoulders. He turned to face Sakura, concern welling within him as he watched how tightly she held the flowers in her arms.

  
  


Quietly, she released the bouquet, setting it down on the cushion of her couch. When she turned to face him and he saw the open hurt in her expression, he felt his heart drop. She took a few steps forward, falling into his welcoming embrace. He wrapped his arms around her as she clung to him, pressing her face against his chest as if to hide.

  
  


“I _hate_ my parents…” Sakura muttered against his chest, anger and hurt coloring her tone in equal measures.

  
  


“They’re a bit, er… blunt,” Madara tried, carding his fingers through her hair, “But it… appears as if they care for you a great deal.”

  
  


“Ugh, shut up and fuck me already,” she growled back as she pulled out of his embrace enough to work on tearing his belt from his hips, “I want something good after dealing with bad stuff all day.”

  
  


“Are you sure you don’t want to talk about- _oh_ ,” he attempted in his surprise before being interrupted by her palming him through his pants.

  
“Later,” she returned shortly, tugging on his belt to undo the belt buckle and slip the leather free.  
  
He took a deep breath to focus his thoughts before informing, “I feel as if you’re using sex as a way of distracting yourself.”  
  
“I am, now take your clothes off,” Sakura answered hotly, her hands already working to unbutton his jeans.

  
  


Madara reached down and gently grabbed her wrists, halting her frantic movements. She blinked once, torn from her own thoughts, before her gaze finally returned to his, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

  
  


“Sakura… I know you’re hurting right now but talk to me.” He brought her hands up to his lips, pressing a kiss to her knuckles as he watched her confused expression darken into one of misery.

  
  


“Please, just… not right now…” Sakura pleaded as she gazed up into his eyes.

  
  


“Are you sure this is what you want?” he asked, needing to know that this was what the woman he loved wanted and not something she would regret.

  
  


“Just distract me for a little while...” she whispered.

  
  


Madara watched her for a moment longer, dissecting the desire and the hurt in her eyes, before he finally released her wrists. Her hands slowly dipped down to cling to the front of his shirt, her frantic movements from before now gone as she focused on him instead of his body.

  
  


“If it’s what you want, hellcat…” he spoke softly as he reached forward to cradle her face, his fingertips dipping into her hair.

  
  


He brushed his thumbs across her cheekbones before gently tilting her chin. Her hands fisted in his shirt as he leaned down to press a tender kiss to her lips, Sakura sighing into his embrace. He continued to press kiss after kiss to her lips, trying to convey his love for her without words and bring her comfort despite her anger and her hurt.

  
  


Sakura’s hands loosened from his shirt before they slid up his chest, sending a shiver of satisfaction down his spine as her delicate fingertips skimmed across his clothed skin. Her arms wrapped around his neck, beneath his hair, as she stood on the tips of her toes to better reach him. His hands drifted down to instead rest on her hips, his fingertips softly teasing the thin strip of skin revealed from her lifted tank top.

  
  


She pulled back just enough to whisper against his lips, “Dara…”

  
  


Without needing another word, Madara leaned down to scoop her up beneath her rear and pull her into his arms. As he pulled her close, her arms tightened around his neck and her legs looped around his waist, careful of the pistol always strapped to the back of his jeans. She leaned down to press her lips to his sweetly as he carefully carried her to her bedroom and laid her out across her bed.

  
  


He pressed her against the blankets with his body, breaking their kiss so he could pepper kisses to her neck. Her hands sunk into his hair, her strong thighs tightening around his hips to pull him closer, as he smoothed his hand up her side.

  
  


“Tell me what you need,” he hummed against her throat as his fingertips traced the dip of her waist.

  
  


“Just...don’t let me think for a while…” Sakura whispered back, her fingertips tightening in his hair as she arched against him and pressed her clothed core against his hardening length.

  
  


Madara ground himself against her center in return, his lover groaning softly, before he muttered against her neck, “Tell me if you want me to stop.”

  
  


He nipped her throat, drawing a gasp from her, before he sat up at the foot of her bed. Without escaping the circle of her thighs, he shucked his leather cut from his shoulders, carefully tossing it so it laid across her dresser. As he grabbed the back of his long sleeve shirt to tug it off over his head, Sakura’s hands drifted down between them. Her deft hands worked to unbutton and unzip his jeans as he carelessly dropped his shirt to the floor next to the bed.

  
  


Madara allowed her to slip his already firm cock from the confines of his jeans, Sakura’s soft hand pumping his swollen length. Her fingertips and her palm circled the head of his shaft in a way that made his member throb in her skilled hands.

  
  


Reaching down to grasp her thighs, he pulled up and forced her back onto the bed. Her hands separated from him as he settled her calves against his shoulder, allowing him to reach down to quickly unbutton and unzip her tiny jean shorts. He grabbed the waistband of her shorts and her panties both before tugging them up her toned legs and pulling them off of her feet. As they landed on the floor behind him, unneeded, he grabbed one of her legs to spread her thighs for him.

  
  


Pushing her leg to rest against the bed, he exposed Sakura’s welcoming center. He reached down to spread her glistening folds with two fingers, revealing the swollen pearl nestled at the top of her sex. The quiet intake of breath from his lover, so beautifully spread out across the blankets, encouraged him, the Uchiha dragging his fingertips down her sensitive slit and gathering her arousal on his fingers.

  
  


Madara pressed two fingers into her passage, amazed at how wet she already was, as his free hand pushed down his own pants. His jeans, weighted down by the ever present pistol at his back, fell to the floor with a dull thump. While he pumped his fingers into Sakura’s soaking channel, her stepped out of his pants.

  
  


Removing his fingertips from her hot channel, he grasped his throbbing cock in his hand and rubbed his swollen head across her clit. She gasped, her eyes sliding shut as he circled the head of his member around her sensitive nub. He dipped down, challenging the resistance of her wet opening with just the head of his length and smearing her arousal against his tip.

  
  


He released his member to grind his length against Sakura’s pleasure point, slicking the bottom of his shaft with her wetness and drawing a pleasured whimper from her. She fisted her hands in the blankets beneath her to give herself the leverage she needed to return the pressure, arching up against him and rubbing her clit against the underside of his weeping member.

  
  


Gripping the base of his length, Madara pulled back to align himself with Sakura’s center. He sunk himself into her channel in one long thrust, her slick folds parting wide so her body could take his thick cock to his base. Her tight passage clenched around him as he filled her, a groan falling from her parted lips.

  
  


Without giving her even a moment’s reprieve from him stretching her wide, he pulled out only to bury himself deep within her again, his thrust smooth as his length was made slick within her soaking passage. He leaned over her, his hands hooking around the backs of her knees and spreading her thighs wide to accommodate his body. His hips mercilessly snapped against hers as he sunk his length deep within her folds again and again, her bed trembling with the force of his thrusts.

  
  


Sakura’s hands fisted in the fabric of the blanket for something to hold onto as she was filled relentlessly, gasps of pleasure falling from her parted lips. Her eyes were squeezed shut in bliss, her head thrown back against the mattress as he continued to seat his hardness deep within her.

  
  


“Yes, yes, like that-!” she cried out, her walls clenching around him as he buried himself deep within her welcoming folds.

  
  


Madara released one of her knees to reach up and grab the thin straps of her tank top and her bra, flicking them off of her shoulders. He grabbed the front of her shirt to roughly tug it down her chest, revealing her dainty breasts which jostled with each one of his thrusts. He rolled her nipples between his fingertips before pinching them hard, his lover groaning as she arched farther into his cock.

  
  


Without giving her a moment to think, he dragged his hand down her chest to settle at the apex of her thighs. When the pad of his thumb settled against Sakura’s exposed clit, already tracing rapid circles around the tender nub, her walls clenched tightly around his penetrating length. A moan slipped free from her as one of her hands grasped the back of her knee to once again spread her legs wide for him.

  
  


“D-Dara! I’m already, ah-! Please!” she sobbed, desperately arching against him to seek out just that bit more friction.

  
  


Madara continued to circle his thumb around her swollen clit without mercy, feeling as her walls began to tighten around him as if to pull him in deeper. She came with a moan, the sound of bliss broken by his punishing thrusts jostling her entire form. Her sopping channel pulsed around him as she orgasmed, her clenching walls drawing a groan from low in his throat as her slickness soaked his sac.

  
  


Pushing her thigh to his side, he surged down to press his lips to her exposed throat. He gripped her hip and her shoulder in his powerful hands so he could pound into her, his lover crying out with each slam of his pelvis against hers. Her passage continued to spasm around his merciless cock as he continued to drag out her orgasm, each thrust pressing hard against her widely exposed clit.

  
  


Sakura’s arms wrapped tightly around his shoulders, her legs looping around his hips as she clung to him. As her fingernails dug into his back and as she moaned into his ear, sending rushes of primal satisfaction through him, he could feel as his own finish rapidly welled within him. His thrusts began to waver, becoming unfocused, before he sunk his straining cock deep into her folds.

  
  


Madara’s length pulsed within her as he filled Sakura with bursts of his thick cum, a low growl emerging from deep in his throat as he coated her inner walls with his hot seed. Her passage clenched around his flexing member as he came, milking his cock.

  
  


As he finally began to come down, he pressed pleasure delirious kisses to the frantic pulse point on her throat. She panted loudly as her body relaxed around him, her fingertips slipping into his hair to run her fingers through her locks as she tried to catch her breath.

  
  


He hummed at the affectionate gesture before finally lifting his head to press a blissful kiss to her lips. She returned it with a soft noise of satisfaction, her lingering pleasure making her movements uncoordinated but no less affectionate.

  
  


“Was that what you needed, hellcat?” Madara whispered against her lips before pulling away to look down at his contented lover.

  
  


Sakura smiled up at him, her eyes half lidded from her bliss. “That was exactly what I needed…”

  
  


He smiled back, leaning down to press one final kiss to her lips before pulling away. He slipped out of her with a soft hiss before sliding off of the bed to scoop her shorts and panties from the floor. He returned to her on the bed as he pulled her underwear from the shorts, helping her slip them onto her hips to catch the product of their passion before it stained her comforter.

  
  


As he laid back against her bed, Sakura slipped off her tangled tank top and bra before crawling over and draping herself across his chest. He hummed in contentment as she nuzzled his neck, his arm coming up to wrap around her and pull her close. She quickly found the spot against his body that he was certain had been made for her and comfortably nestled against him with a soft sigh of satisfaction. The two lovers basked in each others’ warmth, slowly descending from their bliss.

  
  


“That wasn’t exactly how I pictured you meeting my parents…” Sakura muttered against his neck.

  
  


“Did it turn out better or worse than you had imagined?” Madara asked in return, his fingertips tracing nonsensical patterns along the skin of her lower back.

  
  


“Better. Or maybe worse? Er, just... different, I suppose,” she huffed, adjusting in his arms in a way that signaled her discomfort was returning.

  
  


“I suppose it could have gone far worse, considering,” he tried to comfort.

  
  


There was a few long moments of silence before she spoke again. “You told me a lot about your family but I don’t think I’ve ever told you anything about mine…”

  
  


“Well, not your blood relatives at least.”

  
  


“Hmm… You might have heard of my mother, Mebuki Haruno. She works as a luxury real estate agent at her company Spring Fields Real Estate.”

  
  


“ _That_ Mebuki Haruno is your mother?” Madara replied, surprised to hear that his old lady’s mother was one of the most wealthy real estate agents in the city.

  
  


While his family and the elder Haruno had never crossed paths, Mebuki selling homes and properties to the other kind of one percenters in the city, the Uchiha were well aware of her. It was hard not to know who she was when her face was plastered on every multi-million dollar home in Konoha. He had always wondered if Sakura was somehow related to Mebuki but hearing they had such a direct relationship came as a surprise.

  
  


“That’s the one…” Sakura sighed, nestling further into his chest, “She’s about as motherly as you can expect a real estate agent to be. My father is the one who basically raised me. He stayed at home while my mother ran her company… Although having him around was hardly any better.”

  
  


His fingertips resumed their comforting patterns against her lower back as he listened closely. He had heard so little of her past, despite all of the time they had spent together, and he wanted to learn everything he could about the woman he loved.

  
  


“When I was a freshman in high school, my mother forced me to take college classes to prepare for joining her real estate company. She wanted me to follow in her footsteps and abandon my whole ‘hussy’ routine at the Konoha MMA… Before I graduated high school, I confronted her and told her I wasn’t going to join her company and that I wanted to be a nurse. She was _horrified_.”

  
  


“Why would your mother be horrified by the fact you wanted to get into such a noble profession?” Madara asked, confused. How could anyone be upset by their child wanting to save lives?

  
  


“To her, nurses are worthless. It didn’t matter to her that I wanted to help people, she said I was aspiring to be little more than a servant…” Sakura trailed off, tension rising within her form, before she continued in a soft voice, “She cut me off… Kicked me out of the house the second I turned eighteen. She told me that I had wasted all her ‘hard work’ and that, if I wanted to become a servant, then I would live like one. And my father just listened to whatever she said. Didn’t do anything to help me.”

  
  


Madara’s fingertips stopped their senseless pattern so he could instead wrap his arm around Sakura’s middle, holding her tightly as she pressed her face to his chest miserably.

  
  


“I had to work to support myself while I went to school. I was lucky though because Ino’s family was there to help me with a job at one of their nurseries. But I didn’t even speak to my mother for years. It was only when she found out that I had gotten into medical school, that I was working to become a doctor, that she talked to me again.”

  
  


Sakura took a deep, shaky breath before continuing. “I can’t forgive her for everything she put me through though, no matter how hard I try. I can’t forget how cruel she was to me when I was young and when I finally took my life into my own hands. How she abandoned me...”

  
  


“And then she does this? Coming into my home, into my life, and pretending like she cares? The only thing she gives a damn about is her reputation and finding out I’m dating a member of a club makes her _look bad_ to her work buddies!” Sakura growled, her voice slowly rising as her anger slowly rose within her, “I can’t stand how disrespectful they both were to you just because you’re in the MC! She just-! She makes me so-! Ugh!”

  
  


She burrowed farther into his embrace, burying her face into the crook of his neck as she clung to him. Madara reached up, threading his fingers into her candy colored hair and gently brushing out the tangles.

  
  


“I’m sorry to hear you grew up with parents like that, my love. It must have been very difficult for you to find your way without the support you needed. I’m lucky in that I had the support of my family through everything, even with the troubles I faced,” he comforted, carding his fingers through her hair.

  
  


“And I feel like such an asshole complaining to you about it,” Sakura muttered as she removed herself from his embrace to gaze down at him sadly, “You’ve dealt with such worse things than me...”

  
  


“Being abandoned by my family is the worst thing I can imagine. I don’t think your struggles are any less than mine. Only very different.”

  
  


She frowned but he could feel as the tension in her form slowly began to abate. “You always know just what to say…”

  
  


Madara smiled, leaning up to press a tender kiss to her lips. Sakura grumbled softly before following him back onto the bed, quietly settling against his chest. Silence reigned for a few minutes as she relaxed against him, gathering a strand of his long hair and twirling it around her finger in thought.

  
  


After a few comfortable minutes, she perked up, pulling herself onto her hands and knees and reaching over to her dresser. He watched, curious, as she carefully pulled down his leather cut.

  
  


“I don’t understand how people can be so cruel to each other simply because of the bond they share with others…” Sakura mused aloud as she sat next to him on the bed, laying out his cut, back up, across the mattress.

  
  


“Not many people understand that that is all the club is,” he returned as he sat up to watch her explore the patches on his leather cut, her fingertips tracing the edges of the cloth.

  
  


“I don’t think I’ve ever asked what all of these patches mean. I know that they say you’re in the Uchiha MC and that you’re the president, but I don’t know about the other ones.”

  
  


Madara smiled, scooting closer to her so he could explain what the symbols he had proudly displayed on his back since he was a young man meant.

  
  


“This one is called the top rocker. It just states the name of the club,” he began as he ran his finger along the curved edge of the large top patch before drifting to the one on the bottom, “The bottom one is the bottom rocker. It shows the area that the club claims as its territory. We claim the entirety of the city of Konoha. The Senju MC claims Konoha as well and that’s something we also get into conflict over.”

  
  


“This small patch here.” He pointed to a small patch next to the club crest that simply read ‘MC’. “It just states that we’re a motorcycle club as opposed to a riding club or some other organization.”

  
  


Madara tapped on the largest patch on his cut, the centerpiece which displayed his family crest. “This patch is the main patch. It’s not just my family crest, an uchiwa fan, but it’s also our club colors: red and white.”

  
  


“What’s so special about the fan anyways?” Sakura questioned, tilting her head as she gazed down at the first set of patches on his cut.

  
  


“An uchiwa fan is special because it can be used to stoke flames. Indra, our oldest predecessor, chose it because he said it fanned the flames of our passion. I always considered it to be poetic. And fairly accurate. We’re all a passionate bunch.”

  
  


“And hotheaded,” Sakura tacked on with a grin.

  
  


“And hotheaded,” he chuckled in agreement.

  
  


Madara flipped his cut over, flattening out the sides of the vest. On one side of the zipper which bisected his vest were three smaller, rectangular patches and on the other were two unique ones in the shape of a diamond and a skull and crossbones.

  
  


“These three on my left side are my president patch, my name patch, and the mother chapter patch,” he continued, dragging his finger across the three smaller patches stitched onto the left breast of his vest.

  
  


He pointed to a patch that simply said ‘President’. “This just shows my rank in the club.”

  
  


His finger drifted down to the patch beneath it which simply said ‘Madara’. “Some people have their road names on this patch which is basically just a nickname decided by the club. My club mates are terrible with coming up with nicknames though so I simply stuck with my name.”

  
  


Sakura laughed, drawing a smile from him, as he pointed to the final patch on the left side which simply read ‘Mother Chapter’. “And this one states that I’m a member of the mother chapter, or the first chapter of the club that all the other chapters in the other cities stemmed off of.”

  
  


“That makes sense,” she added, her focus entirely on him and his little lesson.

  
  


“These two on my right side…” Madara continued, before pausing and considering his words.

  
  


When Sakura looked up at him, a silent question in her gaze, he knew he had to be honest with her. He had made a promise to her. There would be no more lies of half truths between them.

  
  


Madara tapped on a diamond shaped patch with a ‘1%’ printed in the center. “This patch says we’re a member of the one-percent or that we are outlaws who abide by our own set of rules.”

  
  


“This patch…” he finally pointed to the final patch decorating the front of his cut, a patch depicting a skull and crossbones, “I earned after I first killed someone for the club.”

  
  


“Oh… I see,” Sakura muttered, her gaze flicking across the dozens of bands tattooed around both of his arms, spanning from his biceps to his forearms. The numerous tattoos which acted as a tally of all the people he had killed.

  
  


Madara sighed, hoping to diffuse the tension slowly building between them as his dark past was once again brought into the light so openly. “There are numerous other patches that I could add to my cut if I wanted but I choose to keep it simplistic. I could add a patch showing that I had been in an accident on my bike or that I had built a bike from scratch. I could add numerous ‘in memory of’ patches for all my fallen family members or one saying I had taken a bullet for someone. There are dozens of others.”

  
  


He watched her as her eyes returned to his cut, his lover silent as she considered one of the most precious possessions he owned.

  
  


“Hmm…” Sakura hummed curiously as she reached down to grab the edges of his cut, lifting it up as if to take a better look at it.

  
  


Madara's mouth popped open in surprise as he watched as Sakura slipped his cut onto her own shoulders, the leather vest exceedingly large on her small body. Some bikers, even members of his own family, would be livid at someone who wasn’t a patched in member of the club, even their own lover, wearing their cut. Madara, however, couldn’t find it in him to be upset even if he wanted to be.

 

Not with Sakura looking so incredibly sexy wearing his cut and her panties and nothing else.

  
  


“This actually feels nice,” she commented with a smile, adjusting the weight of his cut on her shoulders.

  
  


“ _Actually_?” Madara laughed.

  
  


“You know what I mean,” she grumbled as she looked back at him with that cute little glare, something made all the more enticing by his family crest on her back.

  
  


“You know… You could have a cut all your own if you wanted,” he broached with a sly grin.

  
  


“What? Really?” Sakura answered, her expression pinched in confusion.

  
  


“I’m sure you’ve seen them. The ‘Property Of’ cuts that some of the men and women tied to the club wear. You could have a cut that says ‘Property of Madara’ on the back. It’d show everyone that you’re my old lady and that you’re to be treated with the same respect as any other patch holder,” Madara attempted to convince, reaching out to run his hand across her thigh.

  
  


It would be so incredibly sexy to be able to mark Sakura as his old lady. For everyone in the world to know that she was his lover and that she was proud to be with him and a part of his family.

  
  


Sakura raised an eyebrow at him, unimpressed. “I’m not your property. I belong to no one but myself.”

  
  


“But what about your heart? Doesn’t that belong to me?” he pressed.

  
  


“It belongs to me but loves you.”

  
  


“You’re so cruel, hellcat” he grumbled, sighing softly as he leaned back against the headboard of her bed.

  
  


“How am I cruel?” Sakura returned with furrowed eyebrows.

  
  


“You say your heart doesn’t belong to me while mine is owned by you,” Madara answered with a smile, unable to resist the sight of his old lady wrapped up in his cut.

  
  


“I don’t own you, Dara... But I’ll happily take your love,” she purred as she crawled into his lap, her knees settling at his sides and her arms wrapping around his shoulders.

  
  


Sakura leaned down to press a sweet kiss to his lips, Madara's hands slidding up to settle on her hips, his favorite place to hold. When his fingertips were met with the familiar feeling of leather, he was distracted. As they kissed, he became preoccupied by the thought of what his cut meant, of what the patches and the tattoos he had covered himself in meant.

  
  


Madara thought of how he lived a dangerous life and how the woman he loved had been put in danger because of it. He thought of how he wanted to keep her safe.

  
  


He pressed one final kiss to his lover’s lips before pulling back to rest his forehead against hers, his eyes still closed.

  
  


“Sakura…” he muttered.

  
  


“Hmm…?” she hummed in return, her fingers already playing with his hair.

  
  


He opened his eyes to gaze into her viridian orbs. “I want you to move in with me.”

  
  


Sakura’s eyes widened in surprise as she pulled back to get a better look at him, as if she was expecting he was joking. “What?”

  
  


“I want to live together. I want to sleep with you in my arms every night and wake up with you every morning. I want to spend every moment I can with you like this. I want to keep you safe,” Madara explained as his hands smoothed up her sides, worshiping the soft skin beneath his fingertips. He pulled her close, leaning forward to press a long, passionate kiss to her lips, before he spoke again, “Come live with me...”

  
  


Sakura held him close as she thought for a long moment, her eyes sliding shut as she pressed her forehead to his. When she finally opened her eyes again, hesitation was in her gaze.

  
  


“Are you telling me everything? We’re sharing everything with each other now… You promised me you wouldn’t keep secrets from me anymore,” she asked seriously, her expression one of concern.

  
  


Madara frowned as he gazed up at her, knowing that he had made her a promise. That, like before, he needed to be honest with her. Even if this truth was much more difficult than the first.

  
  


“I want you to live with me because I want to spend every moment I can with you. I’m worried that with you being my old lady and now being so involved with the club that being here by yourself will leave you too exposed. I just want to keep you safe however I can,” he answered honestly, his hands sliding down from her hips to smooth across her toned thighs.

  
  


“Did something happen?” Sakura questioned, worry coloring her tone.

  
  


“Nothing has happened…” Madara took a breath. “Yet, anyways. The Senju are undoubtedly aware that something has happened. Izuna was shot in the stomach yet he is not dead or in jail. They will know he received treatment and that, undoubtedly, it would have been from you. They will know you’re allied with us now with you still being my old lady.”

  
  


“Am I in danger being here?”

  
  


“Hashirama and I have always had an unspoken agreement to never target the unaffiliated members of our families. My club has never tried to hurt his wife Mito or his cousin Tsunade and their club has never targeted my brother Fugaku, his wife Mikoto, or Sasuke or Itachi before they joined the club, for example. But I still worry…” his voice hardened as his tone became serious, “I want to be able to protect you in case anything happens. In case the Senju decides to use you to end this war in their favor.”

  
  


“It seems kind of excessive to say that I could mean the difference between them winning and losing the war, Dara…” Sakura tried, an uncertain frown tugging at her lips.

  
  


“I would do anything to keep them from hurting you…” Madara explained sincerely, her frown only deepening as she heavily settled against his chest once again.

  
  


His lover nestled her head beneath his chin, nuzzling his neck as she thought. The quiet between them stretched on for what felt like a lifetime as he waited for her answer, praying that she would understand that he needed this so he could keep her safe.

  
  


“All the darker aspects aside…” Sakura finally began before perking up and smiling down at him, “I would love to move in together.”

  
  


“Truly?” Madara asked with a wide returning smile.

  
  


“Truly,” she answered, leaning down to press her lips to his.

  
  


He felt as the darkness and the worry from before washed away, relief overcoming him as the woman he loved agreed to live with him. He would be able to protect her, he would be able to keep her safe, and he would be able to be with her every day.

 

His arms tightened around her, pulling her close, as they shared a dozen affectionate kisses, the passion between them slowly beginning to grow. With her perched in his lap, wearing only her panties and his cut, and with her pressing such sweet kisses to his lips, he found it impossible to resist the growing hardness between his thighs.

  
  


Madara’s hand rose up to cup the back of her neck as he tilted his head to deepen their kiss. Sakura made a soft noise of satisfaction as she returned the kiss, her hand sliding down his bare chest and tracing the planes of muscle she found there. When she grasped his hardening length, slowly pumping him in her soft hand, he pressed his tongue between her lips.

  
  


Their tongues moved against one anothers as she teased the head of his cock, expertly palming the head of his member and drawing a growl from his throat. He kissed her harder, his grip on her waist tightening as she focused on his tip.

  
  


When Sakura pulled away, it was with a catlike smile. She released his thickness to instead reach down and tug her soaking panties to the side, revealing her still glistening folds. He grasped the base of his throbbing length, angling himself so she could position her cum soaked entrance above him.

  
  


Achingly slowly, Sakura lowered herself onto Madara’s cock, her folds slowly parting for his heavy member. He took a sharp breath as she took each solid inch of his thick length within her hot walls until he was hilted deep within her. She moaned as her hands fell back to rest against his knees, his lover rocking her hips against his to take him deeper within her welcoming body.

  
  


Madara’s hands settled onto her powerful thighs as she slowly rose in her seat on his cock, her viridian gaze slipping down his chest to watch where they were connected. Her eyelids fluttered shut as she sunk down onto him again, drawing him deep into her soaking passage with a breathy gasp. He grit his teeth against the blissful sensation of his hardness moving within her silken channel, resisting the urge to grip her hips and thrust up into her.

  
  


Instead, he watched, enraptured, as Sakura began to ride him, his length slipping in and out of her folds. Her hands roughly gripped his muscled thighs for balance as she bounced on his cock, her breasts springing with the movement. His gaze was drawn to where his length disappeared into her passage, the erotic sight making his member flex within her.

  
  


Reaching down, Madara hooked his thumb around her panties to pull them farther to the side, further revealing the site of their joining to him. He settled his free hand between Sakura’s thighs, pressing his fingertips against her swollen clit. As he drew firm, lazy circles around her most sensitive nub, her moan drew his attention up her chest, across his all too familiar cut draped across her shoulders, and back to her blissful expression. Her head was thrown back in pleasure, her eyes screwed shut, but her lips parted as she released her sounds of pleasure.

  
  


He could rapidly feel as his finish grew within him, overwhelmed by the heady sight of Sakura wearing his cut and taking her pleasure from his body. A sight which reminded him of when they had first met and when she had ridden him on his bike on the abandoned back road. A sight which he would never be able to forget, much like this one. A woman had never ridden him on his bike and a woman had certainly never ridden him while wearing his cut.

  
  


Feeling as his release grew within him, Madara picked up the pace circling Sakua's clit, his hellcat stuttering in her riding him. Her half lidded gaze fell onto him, their passionate gazes meeting as she fucked him.

  
  


She bit her lip as she angled herself to quicken her bouncing in his lap, her thrusts becoming less coordinated as her orgasm drew closer. He felt as her walls began to squeeze around his unyielding member, signaling her imminent finish, and he continued his pace in pleasuring her needy clit.

  
  


Sakura’s pace in riding him stuttered as she came, her eyes falling shut and her lips parting with a moan. Her soaking walls rhythmically clenched around his penetrating length in time with her waves of ecstasy, sending more rushes of pleasure through him. He was able to hold on for the few heartbeats he could to allow her her fullest pleasure before he gripped her hips in a bruising grip to drag her flush against him and to seat his cock deep inside of her.

  
  


Madara gritted his teeth to hold back the groan in danger of emerging from him as he came deep inside of her quivering folds. Sakura gasped in pleasure as he filled her with his hot ejaculate, his lover spreading her thighs even wider around him and arching against him, drawing his flexing cock deeper into her trembling channel. He rocked his hips against hers as he dumped bursts of his cum against her innermost barrier, drawing out further waves of her own orgasm.

  
  


They both panted as they began to come down from their euphoria, Sakura bonelessly sagging against his chest. His palms slid up from her hips, his arms loosely looping around her. He pressed a contented kiss to her shoulder before tilting his head back to rest against the headboard of her bed.

  
  


“Gods, we’ll be able to do this every day from now on…” he mused out loud, still trying to catch his breath.

  
  


Sakura snorted out a laugh against his neck, a smile spreading across both of their lips as she pressed a kiss to his jawline.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote a bonus scene for this chapter (where Madara goes to buy flowers for Sakura and finds that Ino works at the shop) which I will be posting on my Tumblr (also titled “Astroaves”) later on. I loved the scene too much to outright delete it even though it didn’t fit with the flow of the story itself.
> 
> Also, I frequently refer to something known as a “cut” which is basically a sleeveless leather (or sometimes denim) vest that is worn over regular clothes. It is the most precious possession of a biker, right next to their motorcycle and their life. There are a number of patches which decorate these patches which can detail certain affiliations, statuses, or accomplishments
> 
> For outlaw clubs, or one-percent clubs, there are three main patches which decorate the back of the cut which are called “rockers”. They detail the name of the club, the territory that they claim as their own, and show their club crest. Some even have small patches next to the club crest patch which say “MC” which show they are in a “Motorcycle Club” instead of a “Riding Club”, or an “RC”.
> 
> There are patches on the front which detail the person's position in the club (ex. president, vice president, sergeant at arms, etc), their nickname/road name/regular name, and what chapter of a club they belong to. A “Mother Chapter” is the first chapter of a club that was established. There are also “Nomads”, which are bikers involved with the club that aren’t affiliated with any particular chapter. There are numerous other patches which have a variety of meanings. A common patch which is universal is a diamond shaped patch, sometimes with a “1%” in the center. The diamond patch is a declaration saying that they are a one-percenter or an outlaw. There are hundreds of other patches, some of which have different meanings between different clubs or that are unique to each club.
> 
> If you’re curious as to what a real life cut looks like, you can google images of a cut belonging to a biker in one of the most famous outlaw motorcycle clubs in the world, the Hells Angels. Keep in mind that real life MC’s have much different laws and lifestyles that the ones I detail in my story.
> 
> Also, don’t forget to leave a review/comment if you enjoyed the chapter or if you have any ideas on where it’s going!


	18. Kitten

Madara considered himself lucky that he had only moved twice in his life.

 

The first time he had moved had been when he had moved from his parents’ house into his cheap, one bedroom apartment on the edge of town. It had been shortly after he began to work at the Uchiha MC’s mechanics shop and after he had earned his first few paychecks. He had lived there for a handful of years until he had finally become a patched in member of the club and had been able to pay off his first set of student loans using money he earned taking jobs for the club.

 

He distinctly remembered how all of the belongings from his and Izuna’s room at his parents’ home had fit into just a handful of boxes and a few garbage bags.

 

The second time he had moved, it was into the house he had lived in for the past fifteen years. He could remember that, even then, he had been able to move all of his belongings in just three trips with his truck, the last two trips having been just his bulky furniture.

 

Madara considered himself lucky that he only had to move twice. More so now than ever as him and Sakura worked to unload his truck and her jeep, both loaded down with her belongings, for the fourth time that week.

 

For the life of him, he could not wrap his mind around how his old lady had packed so much stuff into her one bedroom apartment. It had taken two whole days just to box up all of her things and, even though they had gotten _distracted_ a number of times, it had taken an absurd amount of time to pack all of her belongings.

 

Grabbing the final box from the bed of his truck, Madara carried in the container of what he assumed was more books into their house. After closing the bed to his truck and checking the back of her jeep for any remaining things, Sakura followed behind, shutting and locking the front door with soft clicks. Both of them maneuvered around the boxes and bags that lined the hallway leading into the crowded living room, careful not to trip over the stacks that had become more and more haphazard as they had quickly become impatient with the process of moving.

 

After dumping the final box on top of one of the many stacks near the kitchen, he wearily made his way to the couch. He moved one of her bags of clothes from the couch to the floor before flopping down onto the couch with a groan. Leaning his head back against the cushions and closing his eyes, he felt as Sakura settled down next to him.

 

“I can’t believe we’re finally done,” she sighed dramatically as she laid out across the couch, kicking off her boots on the floor next to them.

 

“Have you seen this mess?” he laughed, not even opening his eyes, “We have to unpack all of this still.”

 

“But that will be the fun part!” Sakura asserted, resting her feet in his lap.

 

“Where do we even start?” he thought aloud as he grasped her foot, absentmindedly massaging the soles of her foot and drawing a sigh of contentment from his lover.

 

“Hmm… The bathroom? At least it’ll be the fastest,” she suggested, Madara humming in response.

 

Madara’s eyes finally slid open as he raised his head to look out at the boxes and bags that surrounded them both. “I had no idea that you had so many things in your apartment. Do you ever throw anything away?”

 

“Shush you! You never know when something is going to be useful!” Sakura argued back, poking him in the side with her toe.

 

“Even that blood splattered dress in the back of your closet?” he teased, tickling the arch of her foot in retribution and making her jolt back with a squeak.

 

“Hey, that was the dress I was wearing when we first met. I couldn’t bring myself to throw it away,” she grumbled, returning her feet to his lap so he could resume his attentions.

 

“I know, love, I’m just teasing. How could I ever forget that dress when it was the one you wore on _that_ day,” Madara chuckled, tilting his head to level her with a smouldering look, “I’ll still never forget the sight of it bunched up around your waist. Or those little lacy panties you wore...”

 

“You ruined those panties I’ll have you know.”

 

“A worthwhile sacrifice to get to what was beneath.”

 

Sakura laughed aloud as she settled back against the cushions, tucking a throw pillow beneath her head as he worked to massage the tension from her sore feet.

 

“I suppose that there are some things I could do to let go of…” she finally sighed in agreement, “I just struggle to throw things out sometimes. When I was living by myself, working and going to school at the same time, money was tough to come by. I held onto whatever I could because it was safer than maybe needing it in the future and not having the money to afford it.”

 

Madara ran his hands up Sakura’s calves in comfort, drawing her attention back to him. When their eyes met, he assured, “I promise you that we’ll never struggle like that. I’ll always be here and we’ll work together to make a life where you’ll never have to want for anything.”

 

Sakura’s returning smile was bright and warm.

 

“I believe you,” she replied in a heartfelt tone before tacking on with a serious expression, “I’m not getting rid of any of my books though.”

 

Madara laughed. “I wouldn’t dream of it.”

 

The lovers settled back against the couch, Madara once again beginning his gentle massage of Sakura’s feet. She sighed in contentment before stretching out, her hands reaching far behind her and the edge of her shirt lifting to reveal a thin strip of skin, the tattoo of a cherry blossom on her hip peeking out. She relaxed back against the cushions contentedly, folding her hands behind her head.

 

Sakura hummed in thought, her gaze lingering on the stack of boxes that contained the majority of her books.

 

“What are you thinking?” he asked as he watched her eyes flick up to the handful of bookshelves already loaded the the brim with his own collection.

 

“We’re going to need more bookshelves,” she commented offhandedly, a thoughtful expression on her face.

 

At hearing Sakura’s words, a sudden joy spread throughout Madara, a warmth and an excitement that tingled in his chest. As he gazed at her profile, a smile spread across his lips, unable to be contained in the face of the sense of bliss that had enveloped him. The silence stretched between them and, as if feeling his eyes on her, she turned her head to face him. She blinked at his contented smile before an embarrassed half smile of her own formed in response.

 

“What?” she prompted, brushing a lock of hair behind her ear.

 

“Say that again,” Madara replied.

 

Sakura’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion before she laughed, “What? That we’re going to need more bookshelves?”

 

His smile only widened as he slid across the couch, settling between her thighs as he held himself above her. She readily accepted him into her embrace, her hands smoothing up his chest as her heel hooked around his knee to draw him closer.

 

Gazing down at her, he repeated, “Say it again.”

 

“We need more bookshelves? Do you have a fetish I don’t know about that you’ve decided to reveal to me now that we live together?” she teased, playfully tugging at the zippered edges of his leather cut.

 

Madara chuckled as he leaned down to nuzzle her neck, his hands sneaking beneath her waist to wrap around her. Her arms looped around his shoulders as he settled against her with a contented sigh, his sense of satisfaction only magnifying as she pulled him close.

 

“I just like hearing you say ‘we’,” he admitted easily, pressing a kiss to her collarbone as she began to card her fingers through his long hair.

 

“I love you, Dara,” Sakura whispered in response, her breath warm against his hairline.

 

“And I love you,” he returned with a smile, basking in the sense of bliss and warmth that he had never once thought he would one day feel.

 

* * *

 

For the first week that Sakura and Madara had finally begun to live together, Madara had basked in his bliss. Every day, his joy at sharing a home with the woman he loved grew. Even the struggles of having to unpack all of her belongings failed to diminish his mood, the process of integrating all of her things into his own being a task that only served to further his elatement. Seeing how her things mixed with his own showed him how their worlds were coming together and how they were well and truly beginning a life together.

 

The only thing that finally put a damper on his near constant state of happiness had been him beginning to notice the times that he had been unable to spend with his old lady. When she had first moved in with him, he had thought that they would be able to spend far more time together but, as the days went on, he became disappointed by the scant amount of time they actually did.

 

In order to make the time to actually move all of her things from her abandoned apartment to the home they now shared together, Sakura had taken nearly a week off from work - something that she had to repay in full. With her working twelve hour shifts at the hospital, and with his own work and his obligations to the club, they found little time to actually spend together aside from falling asleep, exhausted, in each others’ arms at night.

 

While Madara found himself unendingly satisfied at never having to sleep alone again, with being able to fall asleep wrapped around the woman he loved every night, he frequently found himself discouraged when he would wake up in the mornings.

 

Every morning, Sakura would wake up and slip out of bed at the absurd hour of five thirty to begin to get ready for work. Before she would leave for the hospital nearly an hour later, she would always stop into their bedroom to give him a kiss goodbye. Each time he went back to bed to sleep until his own alarm, his rest would be fitful. He had quickly acclimated to sleeping together in bed and, without her there to wrap his arms around, his sleep was less than tranquil.

 

At first, Madara had attempted to rectify this discomfort with a few failed attempts to simply drag his old lady back into bed with him. When that course of action proved fruitless, and with him having earned more than one scolding from Sakura, he decided that he was tired of missing out on the precious little time he could be spending with the woman he loved.

 

When Sakura’s alarm had gone off that next morning at the unholy hour of five thirty, Sakura had quickly shut off the melody from her phone and slipping out of bed. When Madara dragged himself into a sitting position, utterly addled, as he attempted to get up with her, Sakura looked to him in confusion.

 

“That was my alarm, Dara, yours doesn’t go off for another two hours,” Sakura spoke softly in the darkness of their bedroom, assuming he had thought her alarm was his own.

 

“I know, I know…” Madara muttered as he pawed at his nightstand, flipping on his bedside lamp and basking the room in a warm glow. He blinked against the light to try to clear his vision before grabbing his glasses and slipping them onto his face. Even with his glasses on, his vision was still bleary and he found himself struggling to not simply lie back down and go back to sleep.

 

How she did this every day, he would never know. He only hoped that he could acclimate to it quickly

 

“Are you waking up with me?” she asked, confusion and hope coloring her tone in equal measures.

 

His eyes finally met hers and he smiled drowsily. “I thought we could make a habit of spending a bit of time together in the mornings.”

 

“That… That means a lot to me… I’ve missed spending time with you and I feel as if we haven’t been able to be together much lately with me making up my hours at work,” she answered sweetly, smiling brightly as she leaned over their bed to press kiss to his lips. His reaction time was sluggish in his half awake state and he hardly coordinated himself enough to meet it.

 

“Of course, love,” was all he could come up with to say in his sleep muddled state as she pulled back and once again slid off of their bed.

 

As Sakura delved into their shared closet - one which was dominated by her own clothing which relegated his own wardrobe to one cramped corner - to search for an outfit to wear that day, Madara rubbed at his face, trying to fully wake himself. He finally found the energy he needed to drag himself out of bed, yawning widely as he planted his feet on the carpet. While she worked to find a matching outfit, he sluggishly trudged out of the bedroom, using her distracted state to steal away time in the bathroom to relieve himself.

 

By the time Sakura made her way into the bathroom, carrying a blouse and a skirt which she hooked onto the shower rod by their hangers, Madara was already brushing his teeth while simultaneously trying to keep his eyes open. The feeling of her gentle hand affectionately brushing down his back forced his eyes open once again.

 

As he watched Sakura smear a dollop of toothpaste onto her own brush, he found himself curious as to what her morning routine entailed when she was preparing herself for work. Even after he was finished brushing his teeth and his hair, he lingered behind to watch. At least until, after she was finished washing her face, she kicked him out of the bathroom so she could relieve herself.

 

Staggering into the still dark kitchen and flicking on lights as he went, Madara stopped in front of their coffee maker to begin preparing a fresh pot. Staring blearily at the bubbling coffee maker, he yawned widely once again before realizing it would be better to keep himself busy and moving if he wanted to stay awake.

 

Returning to their bedroom to get dressed for the day, he paused next to the bathroom and peeked in through the open door. Distracted by the sight of Sakura’s reflection in the bathroom mirror as she worked to apply her makeup, he paused in his path to the bedroom. He smiled in amusement at the sight of her perched on the bathroom counter alongside her beauty supplies, perfumes, lotions, and soaps spread out across the now cramped space. Her box of makeup was open and various containers of all shapes and sizes were strewn around her, only adding to the chaos.

 

Leaning against the doorframe to watch her as she continued to get ready, her eyes met his in the mirror.

 

“I don’t think I’ve ever watched you put on your makeup,” Madara commented simply, watching curiously as she traded the container in her hands with another laid out across the counter.

 

“It’s not much since I don’t have much time but it makes me feel prettier and more confident,” Sakura answered as she unscrewed the thin container in her hands and withdrew a spiral brush smeared with black pigment.

 

“You’re always beautiful to me,” Madara replied, his eyes following her hands as she swiped the brush across her eyelashes.

 

Sakura paused for a moment, turning to smile brightly at him. She crooked a finger at him and he readily followed, stepping forward so she could pull him into a tender kiss.

 

“Coffee will be ready soon,” he whispered against her lips, her humming in approval.

 

“You spoil me,” she purred in response, smoothing her hand down his bare chest. Her fingertips lingered on her favorite tattoo, his hawk, inked across his chest.

 

Madara smiled as he lovingly ran his hand down her side before pressing one last, lingering kiss to her lips. He pulled away, leaving so she could finish getting ready for her day and so he could get dressed.

 

While he stripped off his fish print pajamas and dressed in his regular attire, pulling a pair of dark wash jeans onto his hips and a black, long sleeved shirt onto his chest, he could smell as the scent of coffee drifted throughout the house. His cut remained hanging in the hallway closet, unneeded until he would finally leave the house much later that morning.

 

After he returned to the kitchen and poured both him and Sakura cups of coffee, mixing in just the amount of cream and sugar he knew she liked, Sakura finally emerged from the bathroom, ready for her day of work at the hospital. He greeted her with a smile as he passed her her cup of coffee, silently marveling at how his sleepy hellcat had transformed into the professional and well dressed doctor who would help save lives at the hospital that day.

 

Sakura accepted her cup with a returning smile, taking a slow sip as she made quick work of loading up the toaster with a couple slices of bread. Madara went to sit at their kitchen table, relaxing into his chair with his own cup of coffee, content to watch as his old lady continued preparing for her day.

 

Snacking on a handful of strawberries from the fridge and checking her phone for any messages that may have been left for her overnight, she filled the time it took for her breakfast to pop free from the toaster. Grabbing the toast, she smeared a layer of preserves onto both pieces before gesturing to the toaster with her knife.

 

“Would you like some?”

 

“I’ll make myself something later.” He gestured to the seat next to him. “Come sit with me.”

 

Sakura took her light breakfast to their table, pushing aside some of her still unsorted kitchenware before sitting in the seat next to him. As she took a bite from her toast, Madara couldn’t resist the tide of satisfaction and contentment that washed over him from being able to spend this quiet morning with Sakura.

 

“Izuna has been saying how he wants to come visit soon,” Madara broached, “Even Obito has been hinting at wanting to stop by. I suspect he’s finished his most recent borrowed book.”

 

Sakura glanced over at the stacks of boxes and bags still dominating their living room. “We’ll have to clear out more of the boxes in the living room to make room for company. And I keep telling Obito to just get a kindle but he’s so opposed to the idea for some reason.”

 

“I’m fairly certain that the majority of the boxes remaining in the living room are your books and kitchen supplies,” he replied, “And I’d be willing to wager he simply appreciates having a friend to talk to about his romance novels. No one else at the club has the same appreciation for his books and he doesn’t exactly have numerous friends outside of our family.”

 

“Heh, I get the feeling not many people appreciate trashy romance novels as much as we do. Even Ino gives me slack about it.” Sakura popped a strawberry into her mouth, gazing thoughtfully at the stacks of unpacked boxes. “If I stop by the furniture store on my way home today and pick up a couple more bookshelves, would you put them together for me?”

 

“Of course. Although I will ask that you give me executive authority on what kitchen supplies to keep and what to donate.”

 

“A fair trade,” she laughed as she plucked the final strawberry from her plate.

 

Madara reached beneath the table, brushing the top of his foot up her calf affectionately. “Are you working a full twelve tonight?”

 

Sakura nodded mournfully before releasing a weary sigh. “Yeah, the forth one in a row. Luckily tomorrow will be the last night I have to work to make up for my time off. I’ll finally be back on my normal schedule from then on.”

 

“We should go get dinner tomorrow to celebrate,” he suggested, taking another drink from his coffee.

 

“You’re just saying that since our kitchen is almost empty,” she returned with a knowing look.

 

“That too,” he admitted with a shrug.

 

“Tomorrow then. It’ll be fun,” Sakura agreed with a smile before checking the time on her phone, “I have to go though, I like getting there a bit early so I can get a head start on charting.”

 

“How industrious of you,” Madara teased lightly, watching as she stood and gathered her plate and unfinished cup of coffee.

 

“It makes it so I don’t have to stay late to finish it,” she explained as she placed her plate in the sink and transferred her unfinished cup of coffee into a travel mug.

 

“I’ll be home later tonight. I love you,” Sakura hummed as she returned to him, coffee and toast in hand.

 

Leaning down, she pressed her goodbye kiss to his lips, something that he enjoyed much more actually being awake to receive it.

 

“I love you too. Go save some lives, hellcat,” Madara purred in response.

 

Biting into her toast to hold it in her mouth, she grabbed the keys to her jeep from the bowl on the kitchen counter. Stepping over the row of boxes in the livingroom to reach the hallway, she stopped to grab her purse and her lab coat from the coat rack next to the front door.

 

After maneuvering all of her supplies into her hands and opening the front door, she called out, “Just don’t throw away any of my vases!” before exiting into the dim morning light.

 

When the front door clicked shut, Madara leaned back into his chair, taking another sip from his coffee. He listened as her jeep sprung to life and as she left before finally checking his own phone to see the time.

 

Only six seventeen.

 

He still had nearly two hours before he had to head to work at the clubhouse where he would meet Izuna and where they would continue working to rebuild a classic car for their most recent employer. A job that he found himself doing most of the manual labor for as Izuna continued in his recovery from his gunshot wound.

 

Feeling the beginnings of hunger building, Madara finally stood from his seat with the intention of making good use of this free time and prepare himself a decent breakfast. Stepping over a row of boxes, he stopped at his entertainment center to flip on his stereo. With the sound of a popular rock station playing in the background, he returned to the kitchen to begin cooking.

 

After tossing a frying pan onto the stovetop, he delved into the fridge to find the materials he needed to make himself an omelet. Setting out the ingredients on the counter, he paused as he stared at the carton of eggs cradled in his arms. He smiled as an idea occurred to him and he became all the more grateful for the sudden free time he had to enjoy.

 

That next morning, after he had gotten ready for the day and while Sakura sat on her usual perch on the bathroom counter applying her makeup, Madara made his way into the kitchen. Setting a frying pan onto the stovetop and pulling out the supplies he needed from the fridge, he set to work.

 

Sakura emerged from the hallway with a cute yawn shortly after, already dressed for work, this time in scrubs. He watched her approach with a smile and, when she tried to go to the toaster to make her usual, simple breakfast, he instead handed her a plate.

 

He watched as she groggily looked down at the meal he had prepared for her. A meal she had asked him to make for her the first time that she had spent the night at his home and one that he had spent the entire previous morning learning how to master: sunny side up eggs.

 

When a slow, sleepy smile spread across her lips, one of the cutest he had ever seen, Madara couldn’t help his returning smile. She slowly set down her plate onto the counter before wrapping her arms around him from behind, pressing her cheek against his back as he continued to make their breakfast.

 

“I can’t believe you remembered,” Sakura purred against his hair.

 

“How could I have forgotten?” he chuckled in return, lacing their fingers together with his free hand.

 

Bringing her hand up to his lips, Madara pressed a kiss to her fingertips.

 

* * *

 

After Sakura had finally returned to her normal schedule at the hospital, and after Madara rearranged his own schedule to allow for more time at home with her, both of the lovers had finally put a dent into the boxes and bags that had overrun their living room. Their shared home finally began to come together, the mix of both Sakura and his things making for an entirely new home.

 

Sakura knelt next to the row of bookshelves which now dominated one of the walls in their living room, digging through boxes packed with her books and neatly arranging them on her bookshelves. Madara, after spreading out all of their cookware onto their kitchen counter, worked to try to organize the startlingly vast mess. A box destined for the trash, already filled with rusted, warped, or otherwise unusable equipment, already overflowed at his feet as he considered the pile with a critical, and aggravated, eye.

 

As Madara struggled to find a suitable location for a breadmaker, one which would not fit into any of the cabinets they owned, the doorbell rang.

 

“I’ll get it,” Sakura stated as she stood to her full height, stretching out after having been hunched over for so long, “And maybe on top of the fridge?”

 

Glancing up to the location she had suggested, Madara tossed the bulky piece of kitchen machinery onto the empty, makeshift shelf. He watched carefully as Sakura padded over to the front door, his mind already working to map out his quickest path to the nearest handgun he had hidden in their home.

 

Despite the peace he felt at home with the woman he loved, he knew better than to think that they were safe.

 

He watched as Sakura peeked through the peephole in the door before smiling widely. Unlocking and swinging open the door, she revealed their surprise visitors: Izuna and Obito.

 

“Sakura! How’s the moving going?” Izuna immediately asked, greeting her with a grin.

 

“See for yourself,” she replied, stepping to the side to open the door wider and invite them both inside.

 

“Good to see you,” Obito greeted with a nod, following Izuna inside.

 

“You too, Obito. Come on in,” she invited, closing and locking the door behind them.

 

Izuna whistled as he stepped into their living room, his eyes flicking across all of the new changes to the space he had once been more than familiar with. He nodded approvingly at her paintings which now hung on the walls, appreciating the prints of old classics.

 

“Wow, Sakura, great job with this place,” he complimented, earning a wry stare from Madara.

 

“What’s the supposed to mean?” the eldest Uchiha hissed from the kitchen.

 

“It means you have the style sense of a dead fish, brother, you always have. She actually makes this place feel like a home and not a _museum_ ,” Izuna returned with a dry look.

 

“That’s funny coming from you,” Madara returned sharply before jabbing a finger in his direction, “I refuse to be judged by a man who still has the same band posters from when he was a teenager hanging on his walls.”

 

“Just further proof of your terrible sense of style. At least one of us was born with taste that didn’t revolve solely around war memorabilia and the club,” Izuna taunted before turning to regard Sakura, “Part of me wishes I had gotten to see your apartment before you moved in.”

 

Sakura shrugged. “It wasn’t much different, honestly. Just different furniture.”

 

“That’s an impressive sword,” Obito complimented, gesturing to the katana which hung on the wall.

 

“Thank you. That was actually a gift from a friend of mine when I graduated med school,” she explained, the sword having been gifted to her by her friend Tenten just a couple months previous.

 

“A good friend to have,” Obito laughed before his eye caught on Sakura’s collection of books.

 

He made a beeline for the bookshelves half filled with her collection, considering the books already organized on the shelves and discerning where to return his own two borrowed novels. After tucking the two paperbacks onto the shelf, he brought his hand to his chin as he studied the other stories on the shelf.

 

“There’s more in those boxes by your feet,” Sakura pointed out, Obito glancing downwards at the overflowing boxes on the floor.

 

“And Izuna,” Sakura broached as she perched on the arm of the couch, “Do you mind if I take a look at your wound while you’re here?”

 

“Of course, Dr. Haruno,” Izuna returned cheekily before lifting his shirt and allowing Sakura to investigate his injury.

 

She leaned down to check on the progress of his injury, her sharp gaze following the circular edges of the still reddened wound.

 

“Looks like you’re healing up very well. Although this will leave behind a nasty scar,” she commented as she sat back up, Izuna pulling down his shirt as she did.

 

“I wouldn’t expect anything less. I’m just glad you took the stitches out last time, they itched like hell,” he replied, “Speaking of, what about the next layer of stitches? Do those come out?”

 

“I could take them out for you if you want but I’d have to cut you open again,” Sakura explained, Izuna anxiously clearing his throat in response, “I’ll take that as a no then. Normally I’d use dissolving sutures for the layer I used to sew up your peritoneum but that wasn’t really a choice at the time.”

 

“Looks like you got a nice souvenir out of it,” Madara commented with a smirk as he leaned against the kitchen counter.

 

“Oh, and speaking of a souvenir, I’ve been meaning to ask you: could I have the bullet?” Izuna asked before grinning, “I want to keep it as a memento.”

 

“Don’t you know better than to keep evidence around?” Madara chided with a sigh.

 

Sakura just laughed. “Sure, you can have it.”

 

“Great! Where are you keeping it?” Izuna returned.

 

Sakura pointed at his stomach, Izuna’s gaze slowly drifting downwards in confusion. “I wouldn’t get into any MRIs anytime in the future.”

 

His jaw dropped as he openly gawked at her before blurting out, “You left it in me?! Isn’t that bad?”

 

“I’m sorry, who spent eight years in university training to become a doctor? You?” Obito scolded with a flat look from his spot digging through Sakura’s half empty boxes of books.

 

“Yeah, yeah, my apologies for being concerned that there’s still a _bullet_ in me!” Izuna bit back, returning Obito’s stare with a glare.

 

“Don’t worry, Izuna, surgeons rarely take out the bullet when people get shot unless it’s in an easy place to grab. They tend to become pretty harmless once they stop moving,” Sakura explained in a placating tone, “It was more dangerous to go digging around for it in your case.”

 

“I suppose that’s kind of comforting,” Izuna sighed, walking around the couch and striding into the kitchen. Stopping in front of the fridge, he helped himself to one of Madara’s beers. When Madara snagged the cold brew from his hands, he huffed before grabbing another.

 

“Sakura,” Obito began as he continued to stare into her collection of romance novels, “Which book do you suggest next? I’ve already returned Guilty Pleasures and Lover’s Tempest.”

 

“Did you like the one before it? Whispers of the Heart?”

 

“It was well written.”

 

“Try Master’s Caress, that one is written by the same author. Second shelf.”

 

Obito nodded in response before plucking her suggestion off of the shelf, flipping the paperback over to read the summary on the back. Izuna narrowed his eyes at the image printed onto the front cover of the book: a borderline pornographic image of a gloved hand running down a naked and bound woman’s chest.

 

“I will never understand your fixations on those trashy books,” Izuna sighed, shaking his head as he popped the caps off of his and his brother’s beers with a bottle opener on his keys.

 

“Maybe if you read something other than the backs of microwavable dinners you could learn something about pleasing a woman,” Obito jeered, Izuna bristling in response.

 

“Oh, I’m sorry, how many partners have you had in the past year?” he mocked in return.

 

“I believe the question you’re looking for is how many partners have I had that have bothered coming back? Maybe you should reevaluate your approach if your pride comes from the number of women you’ve disappointed.”

 

Madara snorted in amusement before hiding his laughter behind his beer.

 

“You little-!” Izuna growled, depositing his drink onto the kitchen counter before storming out of the kitchen to advance on Obito.

 

“Hey!” Sakura yelled, startling the men with her fierce tone, all three Uchiha whipping around to face her, “If you want to stay for dinner, you better not mess up all of my hard work!”

 

“Er, yeah. Uh, sorry, Sakura,” Izuna apologized, shooting one last glare at Obito which he ignored.

 

“Thank you for the invitation, I’d love to stay for dinner,” Obito thanked, tucking his newly borrowed novel into his leather cut.

 

Madara smiled at his old lady, marveling at the fierce expression on her face. He was impressed with her ability to so easily corral two of the rowdiest members of his family and, not so ironically, two of his closest and most precious companions. Sakura was good not only for him but for the members of his club. She had the kindness and the strength to both care for them and keep them in line, something that was an uncommon but cherished experience for all of those who came into Sakura’s life.

 

Both Obito and Izuna, in a silent armistice, remained calm for the rest of the night, even going as far as to refrain from their subtle jabs at each other. Instead, they happily enjoyed the free beer and - once Sakura and Madara both realized that their kitchen was in absolute disarray and unsuitable for any type of cooking and had ordered takeout - the free food.

 

They had all settled onto the sectional together although Obito deigned to plant himself on the couch next to Sakura while Izuna chose to seat himself next to his brother. Sakura and Madara happily sandwiched themselves between the two, all four helping themselves to the boxes of fried rice, stir fried noodles, and orange chicken laid out on the coffee table. While they all enjoyed one of the new horror flicks that had recently come out, a pirated copy gifted to Madara by Kagami, a slowly growing pile of empty beer bottles accumulated on the table alongside glass bottles of Sakura’s favorite tea.

 

Madara felt a sense of contentment as he spent time with three of the most important people in his life: his brother, his closest friend, and his old lady. Even with Izuna, Obito, and Sakura loudly quibbling over the proper way to battle a poltergeist, he found that nothing could disturb his happiness.

 

When Izuna and Obito finally took off later that night, after they had polished off all of the food and all of his beer, Madara and Sakura laid out across the couch together, wrapped up in each other’s arms.

 

“You know, you’re going to be seeing a lot more of my family now with us living together,” Madara commented as he ran his hand across the dip of her waist and the rise of her hip.

 

“I don’t mind. I enjoy spending time with everyone,” Sakura returned softly, happily nestled against his chest and twirling a lock of his hair between her fingertips.

 

“You say that now but you might change your mind when they start revealing their medical concerns to you. None of us seem to know how to make an appointment with a doctor,” he laughed.

 

Sakura perked up from her spot laid against his chest, pushing herself onto her hands so she could look down at him with a serious expression on her face.

 

“I knew what I signed up for when I chose to become the doctor for the club. I’ll take care of them no matter what horrible things have happened, I don’t care. I won’t let anyone suffer while I’m around,” she asserted, unwavering in her commitment to both him and his family.

 

Madara smiled warmly, something he had been doing more of than ever with Sakura fully in his life, as his love for her made his heart swell. He reached up, brushing her bangs away from her eyes, before cradling her cheek.

 

“What I meant was that they’re going to be pestering you with problems like rashes and indigestion now.”

 

Sakura’s serious expression suddenly morphed into one of surprise before she began to laugh, settling back against his chest. “I’m fine with that too. I’m basically a part of your family now and I’m happy to tend to them.”

 

Madara happily hummed in response as he looped his arm back around her shoulders.

 

“Honestly, I’m more worried about you,” Sakura added on with a chuckle, “You’re going to be seeing much more of my friends now as well.”

 

He couldn’t help but tense in response to her revelation. “I didn’t exactly make the best first impression.”

 

She snorted in amusement. “They like you just fine. They’re a big fan of your abs.”

 

Madara just groaned in response.

 

Over the next couple of weeks, his predictions regarding his family members turned out to be spot on. Nearly every day, one or more of his clubmates found some reason or another to drop by their house. To Sakura’s credit, she handled the barrage of complaints about strange rashes and suspicious freckles in stride, more than happy to tend to anyone who approached her with a problem.

 

* * *

 

After a long and difficult day at the clubhouse, Madara just wanted to relax.

 

His day had been spent both finishing up the rebuilding of the classic car by himself and then taking part in a lengthy meeting with his officers. The Senju had been making a series of very suspicious plays on the east side of town, something that could spell even more violence in the future and something that had them all on high alert. After everything that had happened at the ambush of the weapons deal between the Senju and the Fuma, after they had massacred over two dozen men and women, they were all waiting for the other shoe to drop.

 

After a day of nothing but stress and with the knowledge that the war was about to get much worse doing nothing to help his rising dread, Madara just wanted to relax. Once he had finally gotten home late that afternoon, and after taking a shower and changing into his pajamas for the night, he had decided to indulge in an old hobby.

 

Pressing the power button to his NES, he unlooped the controller and flopped down onto the couch. When the opening song for the game began to play, he felt as the troubles from the day already began to fade away, instead making room for the joy from one of his oldest hobbies.

 

He couldn’t count how many times he had harassed Izuna into fixing his ancient system, his little brother being the one more skilled with the delicate electronics that made up his favorite gaming console. The family members that knew of his hobby had gotten together to gift him with one of the newest gaming consoles and a handful of games - some of which still remained unopened- but, no matter how many times he had tried to enjoy the newer games, he always found himself enjoying the classics far more.

 

As Madara fought through the first handful of levels, the game still challenging despite how many times he had beaten it and with it still living up to its title of being one of the most difficult games on the NES, he heard as Sakura’s jeep pulled into their driveway. It wasn’t long before the sound of her key sliding into the lock met his ears.

 

“Ugh, I need a shower…” Sakura grumbled as let herself in with a weary sigh, haphazardly flicking off her shoes next to the hallway closet before hooking her purse onto the coat rack.

 

“Long day?” Madara called out from his spot on the sectional, sitting up to peer over the back of the couch.

 

“Yes,” she groaned as she shuffled over to press a brief kiss to his lips, “I’ll be back. I really, really need a shower. I shouldn’t be touching anything right now.”

 

“Anything I should be worried about?” he questioned with a quirked eyebrow.

 

“You got your influenza vaccination, right?”

 

“You made me get it a couple months back.”

 

“Okay, good, good,” she muttered in response, blearily shuffling into the back rooms.

 

Shaking his head in amusement at his old lady, and knowing that she’d return soon, Madara returned to his game. It wasn’t long before he heard the sound of the shower and not long after before Sakura emerged from the back room, dressed in one of his old band shirts and a pair of shorts that barely peeked out from beneath the shirt. After flicking the cotton swab she had been using to clean her ears into the kitchen trash, she settled into his lap, the scent of her floral soaps washing over him.

 

“Feel better?” he asked, wrapping his arms around her but still keeping his controller in his hands.

 

“Much. But I have to ask, what on earth is this?” she questioned as she watched the screen, unimpressed.

 

“What do you mean ‘what is this’? This is Ninja Gaiden!” Madara returned, shocked that she didn’t recognize one of the most famous games created on this system.

 

“This has terrible graphics…” Sakura criticized as she leaned more fully into his embrace, relaxing against his chest, “What are you even supposed to be?”

 

“You’re a ninja named Ryu. You’re avenging your murdered father but come across a person named The Jaquio who plans to take over the world by using an ancient demon.”

 

“What system is this even?”

 

“It’s a NES.”

 

“What is a NES?”

 

“Such little respect for the classics…” Madara sighed, shaking his head.

 

“When I think of classics, I think of Mario and Zelda. This is just ancient,” Sakura returned.

 

“Mario and Zelda started on this system!” he declared, “And this came out when I was ten!”

 

“I keep forgetting you’re so old,” Sakura teased with a smirk.

 

He nipped her shoulder in reprimand, making her squeak in surprise.

 

“You should try it before you go slandering it, you little witch,” Madara growled playfully against her neck.

 

“One condition,” she purred in response, turning in his lap so she could meet his eyes.

 

“Oh? And what would that be?”

 

She smirked mischievously. “You eat me out while I try it.”

 

Madara tensed in response, his breath catching in his chest in his surprise.

 

Returning her sly smile with a smirk, he answered, “Absolutely.”

 

After passing Sakura his controller, his smirk still stretched across his face, he lifted her to drop her back against the couch. She laughed as she fell backwards onto the cushions, gazing up at him with a flirty smile which she tried to hide by biting her lip.

 

“Well,” he prompted, canting his head towards the television and the game waiting for her.

 

Sakura laughed before turning her attention to the controller in her hands, memorizing the layout of the buttons, before looking to the television and beginning to play. As she began to play, slowly learning which button synced to what action and seeing how the character moved in the environment on screen, he gazed down at her. He watched how her expression slowly turned into one of concentration as enemies began to appear on screen to battle the pixilated character she controlled.

 

Madara was impressed with how easily she picked up the mechanics of the game before chuckling as she began to take damage, her expression morphing into one of both frustration and focus.

 

Focus he promptly broke when he slowly ran his palms up her thighs.

 

Resisting the urge to chuckle when he heard the all too familiar sound of the character taking damage, he focused on his end of their little bargain. Slipping his hands beneath her top, his shirt far too large on her and pooling around her, he ran his hands across the soft skin of her sides. Lifting the edge of her shirt, his eyes settled on the delicate tattoo of a cherry blossom on her hip. He brushed his thumb across the familiar tattoo, drawing a sigh from his lover, before pushing her shirt up even farther, revealing her breasts.

 

Madara’s hands drifted downwards, his fingertips hooking around the waistband of her shorts and her panties. She lifted her hips to more easily allow him to slip both garments off of her hips, down her thighs, and off of her feet where they fell to the ground, forgotten.

 

Sitting up at the edge of the couch, he gazed down at his lover, his eyes dragging down from the cute blush dusted across her cheeks as she tried to focus on the game to his controller held in her hands, from the rise of her breasts down to her toned thighs and the rosy lips between them. He could already feel himself growing hard from just the sight before him, his nude lover presented to him as she continued to play his game.

 

Sinking down, he pressed a kiss between Sakura’s breasts, his broad hand sliding up her side. He captured one of her nipples in his mouth, running his tongue across the sensitive peak as he rolled the other between his fingertips. She released a soft breath as he delivered the same treatment to the other, this time gently nipping at the perky nub before sinking down her chest.

 

Kissing an unhurried line down her chest, Madara lingered on the sensitive skin of her belly. He pressed a kiss to her tattoo, his hand caressing her side and tracing the curve of her waist before sinking between her legs. He drew a line with his fingers on either side of her passage, drawing a shiver of anticipation from Sakura. Settling his fingertips against her clit, he began to draw gentle circles.

 

As he played with her, continuing to press kisses to the tender skin of the cradle of her hips, he noticed how her skin smelled different, somehow sweeter and all the more appealing. He briefly wondered if she had switched her soaps before her gentle moan as he increased pressure brought his wandering thoughts back to her.

 

Madara wondered if she would taste different too.

 

Continuing his line of kisses down Sakura’s body, he removed his hand so he could instead sink his face between her legs. He settled her thighs across his shoulders, allowing him better access to her core, as his hands glided across her skin before gripping her hips.

 

When he kissed her clit, she gasped, her strong thighs tensing on either side of him. He smiled against her center, the scent of her sex washing over him and making his cock throb. Deciding he wanted to taste her more than tease her, he finally dragged his tongue across her sensitive nub.

 

The sounds of the character on screen taking more damage met his ears shortly followed by the all too familiar tune that played when the character died. When he gazed up at Sakura from between her thighs, he saw how her eyes were already closed, her lips parted sweetly.

 

“Keep going, love,” Madara purred, her eyes sliding open to meet his before her cheeks flushed.

 

When her foggy attention returned back to the game, he returned his attention back to her center.

 

He lazily lapped at her clit, gradually increasing in pressure as he slowly and meticulously stoked her passion. He felt as her strong thighs parted wide for him, her hips canting to better allow him to slide his tongue against her most sensitive place.

 

The heady scent of Sakura’s growing arousal washed over him, overwhelming him and making his head spin as he pleasured her. Her soft gasps as she arched against his mouth, silently asking for him to be rougher, sent a rush of satisfaction through him. He happily obliged her, gripping her hips in his broad hands as he ran his tongue across her clit hard.

 

As Madara continued his rougher treatment of her, he could hear the tune that played when the character died repeating yet again, his lover's attention having slipped away from the game and instead settling on him. Her hands slipped down her chest to tangle in his hair, dragging him closer to her center and drawing a groan from deep in his chest.

 

Her hips rocked against his mouth, begging him for more, making his cock ache. He continued to draw out her pleasure before finally giving her what he knew she wanted. He sealed his lips around her clit and sucked, circling his tongue around her exposed nub and making her moan aloud.

 

Running his tongue across Sakura’s swollen clit unforgivingly, he brought her closer and closer to the edge, her thighs trembling as she ground herself against his mouth. He could feel as her finish approached, her breathy gasps filling the air as her rocking against his lips become more erratic. When her orgasm washed over her, her body trembled beneath him. Her hands tightened in his hair to an almost painful extent as she bucked against his lips, accepting his continued attentions as he pleasured her through each wave of her orgasm.

 

Even when she settled back against the couch, Madara followed her, drawing out her finish as far as he could. When the last lingering twitches of her pleasure subsided, he released her clit from his lips, instead sinking down to taste her slick arousal. Dragging his tongue across her now soaking opening, he greedily lapped up the product of her passion.

 

As he tasted her pleasure, he thought of how this arrangement of theirs had turned out in his favor. He had won on two fronts since he loved to taste Sakura’s heady arousal and loved getting to see her play his game.

 

When Madara finally pulled back, pressing one final kiss to her hypersensitive center, he met her eyes from between her thighs. Sakura gazed down at him, dazed and flushed from her pleasure.

 

A sultry smile spread across her lips before she purred, “Your turn.”

 

He met her smile with a wolfish smirk, thinking that he had absolutely come out on top in regards to their little bargain.

 

* * *

 

On one of the rare days that both Madara and Sakura had the day off from all of their commitments - from work, from the club, from errands, from all of the tasks that would separate or distract them for the day - both of the lovers decided to allow themselves a cherished lazy day. A day which, more often than not, was spent sharing a breakfast before taking a nap on the couch together and spending the rest of the morning watching Sakura’s television shows. That is, if they didn’t get distracted by their passion for one another and fall into each other's’ arms, not to be torn apart until they were both sated and considering another nap.

 

Madara suspected this morning would be no different.

 

After dragging himself out of bed, not even bothering to change out of his pajamas, he made a quick stop in their bathroom before making his way into their kitchen. A half smile quirked at the edge of his lips as his eyes scanned across the new decorative jars that dotted the counter tops and the succulents in the kitchen window, all Sakura’s touch.

 

Filling the coffee maker with water, he brewed himself and Sakura fresh cups, enjoying the calming smell of their morning coffee. After adding in the cream and sugar that they both liked, he took both of the steaming mugs down to the living room table. Sitting against the back of the couch with a relaxed sigh, he brought his cup to his lips, taking a slow sip.

 

As Madara enjoyed his morning drink, his eyes flicked across their living room, taking in how much the house that he had once lived in alone had changed; how different their home looked with Sakura’s influence. He thought of how he had always considered Sakura’s apartment to be the more homey of their living spaces, something that he was thrilled had transferred over when she had moved in. Even when he was alone, the house they shared felt infinitely more like home than it ever had.

 

Their house hadn’t only changed drastically in its atmosphere, but it had undergone a dramatic shift in decoration. Many of his old war memorabilia had been relocated, instead making room for prints of classic paintings which hung on the walls. The most notable and most complimented decoration continued to be Sakura’s katana which stood on display, mixed in with Madara’s displaced antiques.

 

One section of wall had been devoted to nothing but bookshelves, their astounding collection of books quickly becoming the centerpiece of their home. Textbooks and manuals were proudly on display next to romance novels and medical journals, everything in between mixed in with their meticulously organized collection - one of the few things in their shared space that received such careful categorization.

 

Sakura’s plush throw blankets and decorative rugs added splashes of color throughout the house that once had known little besides his club colors. Their shoes overflowed the hallway closet, a place Sakura rarely bothered to return her shoes to after work, her heels or her sneakers more often than not haphazardly kicked off next to the door.

 

With Sakura finally living with him, and with all of her things finally mixed in with his in loosely organized chaos, the house he had lived in for decades felt more like home than it ever had.

 

Basking in his sense of contentment, Madara sunk into the cushions and his warm sense of satisfaction. The last month had been absolute bliss and finally being able to spend every day with the woman he loved felt like a dream come true. Not only did her presence fill his life with joy but he felt as if he could finally protect her like he needed to.

 

Now that the Senju knew that they were together and that she was working as a doctor for the club, Sakura had become a target. With the war rapidly escalating between the clubs, having her not only living with him but having her so much closer to the clubhouse kept her closer to the people who could keep her safe. While he knew that his hellcat was more than capable of defending herself, he still feared for her and having her close settled his nerves.

 

Even more than that, Madara couldn’t ignore the juvenile satisfaction he felt at so effectively infuriating her parents. Sakura had been relieved that, after she had told her mother about the good news, the elder Haruno had returned to outright ignoring her. He felt as if he should be above such childish amusement, considering he was a forty-one years old, but the fact that the people who showed so little love and respect to their daughter were so enraged sat very well with him.

 

He couldn’t imagine his life without Sakura and he couldn’t respect the people who could. Especially the people who were supposed to be her family and who were supposed to support her.

 

Madara never loved anyone like he loved Sakura. He had never been happier, waking up with her every morning and falling asleep with her every night. He strove to find every spare moment he could to spend time with her and relished every second he got to be with the goddess of a woman who had appeared in his life so suddenly and so forcefully.

 

Sakura herself sought out extra time to spend in his company, often joining him in his garage when he worked on his bike or one of his many projects. His garage, one half of which once housed his displaced truck, now contained their own combined collection of workout gear. With the garage door often swung open to allow in fresh air and to allow quick greetings to the polite neighbors, Sakura would do her exercise routine. Even once finished, she would happily plant herself in a chair she had moved out into the garage and read one of her many books.

 

Madara found himself picking up a surprise hobby in the surplus of time he had to himself in between Sakura leaving for work in the morning and his own commitments: cooking. It was a necessary skill with him having lived alone for the vast majority of his life but he found the activity infinitely more satisfying with a lover to please. Sakura was always thrilled when she was able to return from an arduous day of work at the hospital to a home cooked meal. She would often return the favor for him when he had to stay late at the clubhouse, something that warmed his heart as much as the hot food at the end of a cold day warmed his bones.

 

The surprisingly large garden that Sakura had tended to, one which had filled up the scant space on her porch, had found a home lining the concrete patio in their backyard. Her curious collection of herbs and medicinal plants added a homey touch to the mostly unused space that, until that time, only served as a place to keep the fire pit which he used to burn bloodied clothes and other incriminating evidence.

 

The neglected space found much more use when they found themselves enjoying training together in the soft grass, even partaking in the occasional spar – an activity that more often than not ended in sex when she teased him by calling his sensei and an activity that made him enormously grateful for the concealing wooden fence surrounding his property.

 

The sex. The absurd amount of sex. He had thought that, with them living together, that they would have left the honeymoon phase of their relationship. If anything, she had become more insatiable than ever, something he was glad to assist with. Whether it be in the backyard, against the washing machine in the garage, in the shower, on the floor of the kitchen, on the coffee table in the living room, against the bookshelves... At the very least, they rarely struggled to fall asleep at the end of the night after tiring each other out.

 

Even with the war escalating around him, and even with violence making itself more and more at home in his daily life, he had never been happier. He felt as if he had finally found who he was meant to spend the rest of his life with.

 

With a suddenness that jarred Madara down to his bones, Sakura's voice cried out his name from the back of the house. Her scream shattered his warm contentment in an instant, his blood running cold at the sound of fear in her voice. Panic surged through him alongside a burst of adrenaline, his mug of coffee falling from his hands and spilling across the rug as he surged to his feet in a heartbeat.

 

Had the Senju gotten into their house, like the night that his brothers had been murdered? Like the night he had lost Kuma and Shisa? Had someone come to hurt Sakura, to take both her and his happiness away from him as recompense for everything he had done? For the torture of that man those months ago, for the massacre of the Senju and the Fuma not long after?

 

He would never allow it. He would never allow anyone to be taken from him again.

 

Throwing the cushion off of the couch to get to the handgun beneath, Madara grabbed the pistol before vaulting over the back of the sectional and running towards the back rooms. Loading a bullet into the chamber of his gun with the decisive sound of metal sliding against metal, he threw open the door to the bathroom, his heart racing.

 

“What's wrong!?” Madara yelled, not finding any attackers in the bathroom with Sakura but just his old lady standing in the middle of the bathroom, tears streaming down her cheeks.

 

Sakura looked up at him with watery eyes, even more tears bursting free as her eyes met his. His hands shook with the adrenaline coursing through his veins, every muscle in his body still taut from the aftermath of the panic that had overwhelmed him just a moment previous. Confusion and a different kind of fear settled within him as he tried to understand why she was so upset in his panic muddled state, his heart still pounding in his chest and his breath still coming fast.

 

Reaching up to wipe her cheeks, Sakura took a ragged breath to try to calm herself before she finally was able to speak.

 

“I’m pregnant.”

 

For a handful of heartbeats, Madara struggled to understand what she had just told him. He stared at her, baffled, as his jumbled mind sluggishly pieced together her words, processing what she had said at a snail’s pace. His eyes slowly dropped down to the object in her hands: a pregnancy test. He blinked once before his gaze migrated to the other two pregnancy tests, different brands than the one in her hands, sitting on the counter.

 

The tension that wrought his frame slowly abated, his shoulders relaxing as his addled mind finally processed what she had told him. Although not quite fast enough to quell the fears of the woman crying in the middle of the bathroom.

 

“I don’t know how! I-I mean, I’m on the shot, I-” Sakura stuttered through her tears, messily dropping the test in her hands onto the bathroom counter with the others – a pile of plastic that he could not tear his eyes away from.

 

Sakura was pregnant.

 

“-shouldn't have been able to! I never thought that I would get pregnant, this-”

 

Sakura was pregnant with his child.

 

“-shouldn't have happened! I-!”

 

Sakura was going to be a mother. He was going to be a father. Sakura was going to be the mother of his child.

 

Madara finally huffed out a laugh as he came back to himself, startling Sakura from her babbling. A smile stretched across his face as he shakily set his handgun down on the bathroom counter, his hand trembling for a much different reason as elation rushed through him.

 

He was going to be a _father_.

 

Finally tearing his eyes away from the pregnancy tests on the counter, his eyes met hers. Sakura gazed up at him, worry and hope coloring her features in equal measure. Tears stained her cheeks and her face was a blotchy red from crying but, in that moment, she was the most beautiful person he had ever laid his eyes on.

 

Madara reached out to her, cupping her wet cheeks in his hands. Her hands came up to grasp his forearms as he brushed his thumbs through the tear tracks, an overjoyed smile still spread across his lips. He slowly came forward to press his forehead against hers, closing his eyes for a long moment to gather himself before he opened them to gaze into her eyes.

 

“Marry me.”

 

Sakura's eyes widened. “W-what?”

 

He kissed her deeply in response, wanting more than anything to show her in that moment that he loved her more than he had ever loved anyone. He couldn't come up with the words he needed to express to her how much she meant to him, how happy he was in that moment, and how desperately he needed her in his life for the rest of his days.

 

He could feel Sakura trembling as they kissed, her hands clinging to him desperately. He pulled back, unable to tear the smile from his face, as he pressed his forehead to hers again. More tears slipped free as she gazed back up at him.

 

“Marry me, Sakura.”

 

Madara knew this wasn't the most romantic marriage proposal, standing in their bathroom in their pajamas with messy hair and a pile of positive pregnancy tests sitting on the counter next to a loaded handgun. While it wasn't the most romantic marriage proposal, it was one that still caused Sakura to burst into tears.

 

She surged forward, wrapping her arms around him and clinging to him as she began to sob. Her wet cheek pressed against his bare chest, tears streaking down his skin as she continued to bawl. He looped her arms around her, one of his hands threading into her hair as he held her close.

 

“Is that a yes?” he asked in amusement as she hiccuped against his chest.

 

“Mhmm,” she whimpered, unable to form words through her tears.

 

Madara’s arms only tightened around her at her response, a wave of bliss settling over him as he basked in the happiest moment of his life. Not only was the woman he loved, the woman who had so easily made a place in his heart and soul, pregnant with his child but she was to be his wife.

 

Finally, finally, finally... He would be able to have everything he had wanted so desperately, everything he had secretly dreamed of but everything he never thought he'd find. Everything he never thought he deserved.

 

As he held Sakura, a sudden thought had him laughing aloud, his entire body shaking with his amusement as he continued to hold his fiancée to his chest.

 

“What?” she sniffled in response.

 

“My hellcat is going to have a kitten,” Madara laughed, pressing his face against the crown of her head.

 

“Shut up,” Sakura muttered in return, nestling farther into his embrace as she fought to hold back her tears and her laughter.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally, after all they’ve gone through, they get a little slice of happiness. It's important to cherish the good times while you can. After all, you never know when they're going to end...


	19. Not Good Enough

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content warning: graphic depictions of violence. “Buckle up, y'all.”

The familiar thrum of the engine beneath him was a comforting sensation as Madara rode towards the home his eldest brother had lived in for the past twenty-seven years. Even though it had been nearly a year since he had visited Fugaku and his wife Mikoto, he could never forget the familiar roads he took to get to his siblings house, the path long ingrained into his mind.

  
  


Turning into a quiet suburb, he watched as knowing neighbors briefly perked up their heads from their gardening or their home repairs to look out at the owner of the rumbling motorcycle pulling into their quiet neighborhood. Curious children looked on with expressions of interest and awe, something that made Madara wonder if his own child, still safely nestled in his fiancée’s belly, would one day look upon bikes with the same level of fascination.

  
  


Finally turning onto the cul-de-sac that his brother’s house resided on, he pulled up next to the curb outside of Fugaku and Mikoto’s longtime home. The two story house hadn’t changed much since they had first bought it all those years ago, the only differences over the years having been Mikoto’s sudden interest in gardening - evidenced by the well tended flower garden that bordered the front of their home - and Fugaku’s new sedan, his previous, ancient beast of a vehicle having finally seen it’s last day that past year.

  
  


Looking out at the vehicles parked in front of the closed garage, Madara only spotted Fugaku’s sedan, Mikoto’s missing SUV indicating that she wasn’t home. Madara had hoped to share the good news with both his brother and his sister-in-law but decided that it might have been for the best that Mikoto was gone.

  
  


While he was excited to share the news about his engagement and the fact he was going to be a father, he knew that his final piece of good news wouldn’t exactly be interpreted as such by either Fugaku or Mikoto. After all, Madara, Izuna, and the officers in his branch of the club had finally come to the conclusion that they would allow Sasuke to become a fully patched in member of the MC.

  
  


While Madara and the rest of the club considered this to be something to be celebrated, he doubted that Fugaku, with his hatred for the MC, would be as thrilled. His parents had been patched in members and, after their deaths during a gunfight with the Senju MC, Fugaku no longer supported the club. After the murder of their brothers and his adopted parents, and after their brother Shisa was eventually driven to suicide by his own grief, Fugaku began to hate the club and everything it stood for.

  
  


When both Itachi and Sasuke had chosen to join the Uchiha MC, Madara, Izuna, and Fugaku had gotten into a fight that resulted in Fugaku refusing to speak to them for months. It was only after Itachi had spoken to him and after he finally accepted the choices of his sons that he returned to speaking terms with Madara and Izuna.

  
  


Turning to key on his bike, the sound of the engine died away, the peaceful quiet of the suburban neighborhood greeting him instead of the rumbling noise. In the distance, he could hear the gentle sound of children playing and of people talking and wondered if a suburb like this would be a better location to start a family. Brushing away the thought for the moment, he kicked down the stand to his bike and stood.

  
  


As he walked up to the front door of his brother’s home, he couldn’t help the smile that built across his lips. Even with his concerns for his reaction to Sasuke finally being patched in to the club, a conversation that he knew could easily turn into another screaming match, he was excited to share the news of Sakura’s pregnancy and their engagement. The Uchiha were a family that valued love above all else after all and they cherished children.

  
  


Despite everything, he was sure his brother would be happy for him.

  
  


Ringing the doorbell, it was only a short wait before the inner door swung open, revealing Fugaku on the other side of the security gate.

  
  


“Madara! What a surprise,” Fugaku greeted with a smile, unlocking the gate and opening it wide to allow Madara inside.

  
  


“It’s good to see you again. It’s been far too long,” Madara returned, stepping inside and drawing his eldest brother into a hug.

  
  


“Agreed,” he answered, patting him on the back as he returned the embrace, “Come on in, I have some coffee brewing. I’ll pour you a cup and we can catch up.”

  
  


“That sounds great,” he replied with a smile, following Fugaku further into his house.

  
  


As they passed through the home, Madara noticed how not much had changed on the inside either. They still had the same furniture spread out in the living room and the dining room, the same paintings and prints hung along the walls, and the same old record player - one Fugaku had inherited from his biological parents - proudly stood in the cozy living room. Madara’s eyes fell upon the wall in the den that was dedicated to family photos, a smile quirking the edge of his lip when he noticed the new additions.

  
  


Pausing in front of the wall of memories, his gaze flicked across the photographs both old and new. He paused on a new photograph of Mikoto, taking in the printed scene. She was surrounded by her sisters - the fact she had nothing but sisters while Fugaku had nothing but brothers always amused him - as they celebrated their mother’s birthday. Her mother sat in the middle of the group of women, a colorful birthday hat perched on her head and a wide smile spread across her face.

  
  


“How’s Mikoto doing?” Madara asked, his eyes flicking over to Fugaku who was already pouring cups of coffee for them both.

  
  


“She’s doing well. She’s gotten pretty serious about her new gardening hobby, much to the horror of those poor kids at the gardening center,” Fugaku replied with an amused shake of his head, “I’m sure you’ve noticed the new flower garden outside. You should see how she’s taken over the backyard.”

  
  


“Did she finally oust that pile of junk from your yard?” he teased in return, walking towards the kitchen so he could rest his elbows on the bar.

  
  


“My _grill_ is no pile of junk,” he asserted, jabbing a stirring straw in Madara’s direction, “And no. It’s just… in the garage now.”

  
  


Madara snorted in amusement, even his brother smiling as he passed him his mug of coffee.

  
  


“So… How is everyone? Safe, I hope?” Fugaku finally asked, addressing the elephant in the room.

  
  


“Everyone is... doing well,” he replied vaguely, knowing that his brother did not need to hear how Izuna had nearly lost his life or how the war with the Senju was escalating even farther.

  
  


“That doesn’t sound promising. You need to tell me if things are getting worse. I need to know if my sons are in danger,” he pressed.

  
  


“You aren’t privy to what happens in the club, you already know this. All you need to know is that I’m doing everything I can to keep everyone safe, like I always have,” Madara explained once again, earning nothing but a deep frown from his brother in return.

  
  


“That’s the same thing Tajima used to say and look what happened…” Fugaku muttered, blowing on his steaming cup as he leaned back against the counter.

  
  


A heavy silence built between them as they both stared into their coffee, overwhelmed by the melancholy brought on by memories of those they had lost. Madara’s parents, Tajima and Tora. Their brothers, Shisa, Kumo, and Oshika.

  
  


“At least tell me that Sasuke and Itachi are safe. That Sasuke is staying out of it all,” Fugaku muttered, Madara already knowing that this conversation was going to turn into a fight.

  
  


He knew his eldest brother too well to not know better.

  
  


“We’ve decided that we’re going to patch Sasuke in. His patching in ceremony is going to be held at the end of the week,” he explained simply, already feeling as the air surrounding them grew heavier, “Sasuke has proved himself and he’s going to become a full member.”

  
  


Fugaku turned his eyes onto his younger brother, his rising anger visible in the tenseness in his shoulders and the scowl on his face. He set down his cup with a rough clink of ceramic against tile before growling, “Are you kidding me? Sasuke, my son… has _proven himself_?”

  
  


Instead of replying, Madara just set down his untouched cup of coffee and gazed at him silently, knowing that this was only the beginning. He had hoped that he would be able to avoid this but, looking back, he wasn’t sure how he had deluded himself into thinking it would end any differently.

  
  


“How many people has he killed, Madara? How many people have you sent my son to murder? What did you make him do?!” he continued, his voice rising with his ire.

  
  


“Nothing that he didn’t want to do for the club. Everything he has done, he did for our family,” Madara explained calmly.

  
  


“ _Our_ family!? Some family we have, sending each other off to kill or die!” Fugaku yelled in return.

  
  


Madara clenched his teeth, the disrespect to their family making anger rear its ugly head in his heart. Family was the most important thing to him and to hear Fugaku, his own brother, talking down on them all left a bad taste in his mouth. Even though he wanted nothing more in that moment than to give in to the fight he was trying to start, he knew that his relationship with him was already strained. More than he wanted to fight, he didn’t want this moment to be the one where Fugaku decided he no longer wanted to be an Uchiha.

  
  


“It was Sasuke’s choice to join the club, just like with Itachi. I never forced them to join, they came to me because they wanted to,” Madara tried, his rising aggravation leaching into his tone no matter how he tried to hold it back.

  
  


“He’s just a kid! He doesn’t know any better and you took advantage of that!” he accused, only fanning the fires of Madara’s barely withheld temper.

  
  


Fugaku’s words were a sharp reminder of Sakura’s parents and how little they respected their own daughter. How even they considering their child to be nothing more that a kid even after all she had accomplished.

  
  


“Sasuke is no child to be coddled or disrespected,” Madara hissed, “He’s a man who is capable of making his own decisions whether or not _you_ are capable of accepting them.”

  
  


“You should have never let them join your gang! The gang that got my parents, your parents, and nearly all of our brothers killed! But, what should I have expected from you?” Fugaku sneered, looking down his nose at his brother, “I heard you started screwing Sakura, Sasuke’s _childhood friend_. She’s what, fifteen years younger than you?”

  
  


“And what of it?” he growled in response, feeling as the control on his anger dwindled until it hung by a thread, “She’s an incredible woman, the most incredible person I’ve ever met, and if you have anything poor to say about her, we’re going to have a serious problem here.”

  
  


“She _is_ an incredible woman. I heard she finally got her license as a doctor and that she’s taking it further to become a surgeon. She has aspirations! She actually wants to help people, unlike you! You don’t deserve a woman like that,” he insulted, Madara feeling as if his brother had struck him instead.

  
  


“Of course I don’t, no one does. But that doesn’t mean I’m incapable of loving her, of giving her a happy life with me!” he argued, a very real hurt building in his chest at his own brother insulting him so grievously.

  
  


“It does, you idiot!” Fugaku suddenly reached forward, grabbing Madara by the arm and dragging up the sleeve of his shirt, revealing how many more bands were tattooed around his arm since the last time they met, “Look at this! You’re not a good enough man for her! You can’t protect her, not when you live the life, not when you’re like this!”

  
  


Madara immediately yanked his arm back, scowling as he dragged his sleeve back down to his wrist, before finally succumbing to his temper and yelling, “Of course I can! I’ll do anything to keep her safe, I’ll do anything to keep our family safe!"

  
  


“You’re deluding yourself! You’re not capable of keeping her safe, you can’t keep anyone safe! You’re not good enough for her, you’re not good enough to protect our family!” He tried to take a threatening step forward, one Madara met until they stood face to face. “You should let her go before you get her killed! If you don’t, she’ll be dead before the year is up and it will be _your fault_ for dragging her in!”

  
  


“Sakura is pregnant!”

  
  


Fugaku’s face dropped suddenly, him taking a step backwards as if he had been physically struck. He stared at Madara in shock for a long few heartbeats, a heavy silence lingering between them. The only sound that filled the air between them was their heavy breathing.

  
  


“She’s pregnant and I asked her to marry me and she said yes. The wedding is going to be in six months, on our anniversary. I had hoped that my own fucking brother would be happy for me, that he would finally see that I’m-!” Madara stopped himself, refusing to allow his rage and his hurt to overcome him again, before he began once again, “I would have hoped that you would know that I would do anything to keep her safe, to keep my child, your children, our family safe... But apparently I was wrong.”

  
  


“Madara, I-” Fugaku started before Madara cut him off with a harsh glare.

  
  


“Don’t even try. Now that I know what you really think of me, that even you think I’m some sort of monster… Don’t bother coming to the wedding. You’re not welcome,” he growled, the adrenaline running through his blood - and the rage and the hurt following close behind it - making his hands shake at his sides.

  
  


He clenched his hands into fists to conceal how much his brother’s words had affected him. Huffing in aggravation, Madara turned on his heel to leave.

  
  


“Thanks for the coffee,” he muttered as he left the room, abandoning his stunned brother in the kitchen with two untouched cups of coffee.

  
  


As Madara turned the corner into the entryway which lead to the front door, he was stopped in his tracks by the sight of Sasuke and Itachi lingering in the doorway. Itachi, as usual, had an expression of careful neutrality, not revealing a single emotion that he felt about having overheard his father and uncle fighting. He nodded respectfully in greeting instead, refraining from speaking in the tense moment.

  
  


Sasuke, however, stared at Madara with wide eyes, his mouth hanging open in shock.

  
  


“Sakura is…?” Sasuke muttered under his breath, his eyebrows furrowing as he looked at Madara in disbelief.

  
  


Madara sighed heavily instead of responding, raking his fingers through his bangs, before walking passed them both without a word. Unlocking and opening the door, he passed through the threshold and back into the now eerily quiet neighborhood. The door closing behind him sounded more hollow than it ever had, the sound echoing through him with a finality that left a sharp pain in his chest.

  
  


* * *

  
  


Madara’s thoughts were so scattered that he barely even registered the ride back to his home from Fugaku’s house. It wasn’t until he opened the door leading into his home, and when he heard Sakura’s soothing voice welcoming him home from their living room, that he finally returned to himself. Hearing her voice felt like he had actually come home and, after the fight he had had with Fugaku, he wanted nothing more than the comfort of his fiancée’s embrace.

  
  


“How was your day, love?” Madara asked, trying to not let his lingering anger show as he toed off his boots near the door.

  
  


“Ah, pretty good, sweetheart. The kids are doing great,” Izuna’s voice piped up instead, surprising Madara.

  
  


Shaking his head in amusement, Madara finally stepped into the living room and found both Sakura and Izuna perched on the couch. He was far from surprised to see that Izuna had come to visit Sakura yet again, his younger brother having been more than excited to find out that Sakura was pregnant. He had always been fond of babies, the infants reminding him of taking care of their youngest brothers and even Itachi and Sasuke when they were young. Even though Sakura wasn’t even far enough along to show, Izuna was already playing overprotective uncle, both him and Obito having made it their personal duties to hover around Sakura whenever possible like overpaid bodyguards.

  
  


Not that Madara minded Sakura having the extra protection.

  
  


“They’re all staying out of trouble?” he teased in return, a half-hearted smile on his face.

  
  


“Everyone except for Obito. He’s still an asshole, as per usual,” Izuna returned, drawing a snort of amusement from Madara.

  
  


Flopping across the couch, and drawing an indignant yelp from Izuna as he scooted out of the way of his feet, Madara contentedly rested his head in Sakura’s lap. She smiled down at him, a smile he tried to return before his eyes slid shut.

  
  


“Are you okay, Dara?” she asked, concerned, as she began to card her fingers through his hair comfortingly.

  
  


“I don’t want to talk about it,” he muttered in response, taking a deep breath as he relaxed into the loving embrace of his fiancée.

  
  


“I understand. I’m here whenever you’re ready,” she replied softly, brushing his bangs away from his face so she could lean down and press a gentle kiss to his forehead.

  
  


Madara smiled briefly in return, allowing himself to finally unwind from his stressful day… Before the sound of Izuna’s text tone interrupted his contentment. His eyes cracked open to look down the couch at his brother who was frowning into the screen of his phone.

  
  


“What is it?” he asked seriously, recognizing the look on Izuna’s face.

  
  


“We need to go,” he answered, clicking the lock button on his phone before tucking it back into his cut.

  
  


“So soon?” Sakura asked, a frown pulling at the edges of her lip.

  
  


“Sorry, Sakura,” Izuna apologized as he stood, “I’ll try to have him back by tonight.”

  
  


Madara took a deep breath, trying to absorb as much of Sakura’s warmth as he could to make it through whatever situation he would be forced to contend with later. He sat up, no part of him wanting to leave the comforting embrace of his lover, before turning to face her.

  
  


“I’m sorry. I’ll try to make this quick. Maybe we can get something to eat later tonight, actually spend some time together?” he offered with a placating smile.

  
  


“I would like that. Just… be safe,” Sakura replied with a sad smile before leveling Izuna with a pointed look, “Both of you. Don’t ruin my hard work by being an idiot.”

  
  


“Oof. You’re so much meaner now that you’re pregnant,” Izuna teased in return.

  
  


“I’ll show you what mean looks like if you come back with another gunshot wound,” Sakura threatened, the younger Uchiha laughing and scratching the back of his head in embarrassment.

  
  


Madara chuckled before reaching out to cup Sakura’s cheek in his hand.

  
  


“I’ll try to be home soon,” he promised before leaning forward to press a kiss to her lips, one she returned before settling her hand over his and giving it a brief squeeze.

  
  


“I love you,” she whispered softly, her words only for him.

  
  


“I love you too,” he responded before pressing another kiss to her lips and standing from his spot on the couch.

  
  


“Come on, Madara. We’ll take my car,” Izuna stated as Madara begrudgingly followed him out of his home and to the coupe which was parked next to the curb outside.

  
  


Madara blamed his earlier daze on having missed Izuna’s familiar vehicle, the pristine car never seeing a speck of dirt inside or out for more than a day. The familiar sound of Izuna’s alarm flicking off sounded before Madara opened the door and seated himself inside, sighing wearily as he moved the seat back and strapped the seatbelt across his chest.

  
  


“What is it this time?” he asked as Izuna seated himself and started the vehicle before turning down the volume on the radio.

  
  


“Izumi texted me using code. Another one of our properties was robbed,” he explained simply as he put the car into gear and pulled out.

  
  


Madara took a deep breath, pinching the bridge of his nose in exasperation as he leaned back in his seat. No matter what he tried, he could not stop thinking about what Fugaku had said to him earlier. How Sakura deserved better, that she’s be dead within the year. That he wasn’t good enough to keep her, or their family, safe.

  
  


He desperately wanted to put an end to this pointless war, to finally have the peace he had strove for ever since he had taken over as president for the club. No matter what he tried, however… it seemed as if the war got nothing but worse.

  
  


“When will this shit be over with…” he finally muttered.

  
  


“When they’re all dead,” Izuna answered darkly, turning off of the road that Madara and Sakura’s home rested upon and taking them down the familiar path to the club.

  
  


‘ _There must be another way…’_

  
  


* * *

  
  


It wasn’t until late that night, after Sakura had already long gone to bed to rest for her shift at the hospital the next day, that Madara finally came home. Sakura awoke briefly to the sound of the bedroom door opening and then to the sensation of the bed dipping behind her, just long enough to roll over into the welcoming embrace of her fiancé.

  
  


That morning was spent sharing what little time they could together and enjoying breakfast, before Sakura left for her twelve hour shift. While her day at work wasn’t particularly stressful, all of her patients being kind and considerate, she was still startlingly drained by the time she finally clocked out for the night.

  
  


Despite Sakura’s day being pleasant overall, she couldn’t help but feel depressed when she got home and Madara still hadn’t returned. After pulling off her scrubs and taking a quick shower, she found herself in an empty kitchen in her still empty home, her unhappiness from before bubbling up within her. Forcing down her surge of melancholy, and succumbing to the desire for pizza that she had been combating all day, she removed a frozen pizza from the freezer. After setting up her meal to cook, she loaded the tray into the oven and set a timer.

  
  


It wasn’t long after she had grabbed her phone to check her social media - and to respond to the ever amusing comments that Obito would leave on her Facebook posts - that a knock sounded at her front door. Surprised to find that she had a visitor so late at night, she padded over to the door and looked out through the peephole at her surprise guests.

  
  


“Oh shit…” Sakura muttered as she saw who was waiting on the other side of the door.

  
  


Pulling back, and taking a deep breath to prepare herself for what was to come, she unlocked the door and swung it open.

  
  


“What the hell, Sakura!? You’re pregnant and you didn’t even tell us!” Naruto immediately yelled, not even allowing Sakura to get in a greeting.

  
  


“Er, hi, Naruto…” she replied lamely before looking over to Sasuke, the young Uchiha avoiding her gaze entirely as he chose to glare at the door frame instead, “How, uh… How’d you find out?”

  
  


“ _How’d we find out_!? That’s the first thing you ask?” Naruto lamented, his shoulders slumping dramatically, “Why’d you keep it a secret from us? I thought we were your best friends and Sasuke had to overhear it when his dad and your old man boyfriend were fighting!”

  
  


“He overheard it when-?” Sakura began before sighing softly.

  
  


No wonder why Madara was so upset yesterday and why he didn’t want to talk about what had happened...

  
  


“Come on, get in here,” Sakura mumbled as she opened the door wider and gestured for them to come inside, “I don’t want to neighbors to hear all this.”

  
  


Frowning unhappily, Naruto and Sasuke allowed themselves inside, Sakura quietly closing and locking the door behind them. While Sasuke seated himself on the couch, assuming his favorite spot on Sakura’s familiar sectional, Naruto paused.

  
  


The blonde peered back at Sakura, his gaze lingering on her stomach with a thoughtful look. “So, uh… How far along are you anyways?”

  
  


“Relax, Naruto, I just found out a week or so ago. I’m barely a month along,” Sakura assured, passing by him and taking a seat on the edge of the couch, “It’s going to be a while before I start to show...”

  
  


Naruto flopped down on the couch next to Sasuke, his lingering upset preventing him from propping his feet up on Sakura’s coffee table as he normally did. Both him and Sasuke watched Sakura for a long moment, waiting for her to finally explain to them everything that had happened.

  
  


When Sakura finally opened her mouth to speak, and to explain to the men she considered brothers that she hadn’t been keeping her pregnancy a secret from them, the beeper on the stove began to sound.

  
  


“So… I made dinner,” Sakura began awkwardly before offering, “Want any?”

  
  


“I want to know why you hadn’t told us and why I had to find out from my uncle screaming it at my father,” Sasuke returned sharply, finally breaking his silence.

  
  


Sakura frowned deeply, the repeating beeps from the kitchen a strange backdrop to the uncomfortable conversation.

  
  


There was a long silence before Naruto muttered, “...What did you make?”

  
  


“I heated up a pizza.”

  
  


“Does it have pineapple on it?”

  
  


Sakura resisted the urge to smile. “No.”

  
  


“Okay then, yeah, I would like some dinner... Please.”

  
  


“Good, I’ll grab us all some slices,” she stated as she stood, walking back into the kitchen to turn off the alarm and the oven, “We can actually finish the thing together and I don’t have to freeze any of it.”

  
  


Grabbing a few paper plates from the cabinet and using oven mitts to remove the pizza from the oven, she cut the pizza into sections and loaded up each plate with a couple slices. She paused as she stared at the plates, sighing deeply as she carried them into the living room and passed them out. Sasuke immediately set his plate on the coffee table, deigning to instead cross his arms and give her a look that fully expressed his agitation. Naruto, however, perched his plate on his legs, choosing to gaze at her with a look that revealed how his hurt vastly outweighed his upset.

  
  


“I wasn’t keeping it a secret, you know,” Sakura finally began to explain, rolling the edge of her paper plate between her fingers.

  
  


“It sure feels that way with how we found out,” Naruto asserted, his frown deepening.

  
  


“I’m sorry, you guys. I guess I was waiting for the right time… Or any time at all, really. It seems like, between working at the hospital and trying to spend what little time I can with Madara when he’s not with the club, well… I just never had the time to invite you over and tell you about it,” she tried to explain.

  
  


“It wasn’t necessary that you made a big show of it,” Sasuke explained, his expression softening, “We just want to be a part of your life.”

  
  


“He’s right. It seems like we never get to see you anymore,” Naruto agreed before gesturing widely around him, “I mean, I haven’t even been to your new house yet! It looks… weird in here with all his stuff mixed in with yours.”

  
  


“I didn’t realize you both felt this way,” Sakura answered quietly, guilt overwhelming her at how she had hurt the feelings of her friends, her brothers. The people she loved like her own family never did.

  
  


“Just keep us in the loop from now on then,” Sasuke declared with finality, gathering up his plate and taking a bite of his meal.

  
  


“Yeah! You can tell us anything, we just want to be involved!” Naruto agreed, nodding resolutely, before following suit and taking a large bite of his own slice.

  
  


“Well…” Sakura began before clearing her throat, “Then I guess I should tell you both that Madara and I are getting married too.”

  
  


Naruto immediately choked on his bite, something which spawned a coughing fit, while Sasuke stopped chewing entirely to stare at her, wide eyed.

  
  


“If it makes you feel any better, I haven’t told Ino or anyone else yet!” Sakura scrambled, Sasuke snorting in amusement around his mouthful before swallowing and roughly patting Naruto on the back.

  
  


“Are you crazy!? Ino’s going to kill you!” Naruto finally choked out, Sakura’s mouth popping open although no words came out as the gravity of the situation hit her.

  
  


“Idiot is right, Sakura, they’re all going to be pissed,” Sasuke agreed as he took another bite of his meal.

  
  


“I’m not the idiot, you’re the idiot, idiot!” Naruto shot back through his coughs.

  
  


Even with her sudden realization that she would have to tell Ino, Hinata, Tenten, Temari, and Karin about the fact she was pregnant and getting married - and the fact they were going to be at her throat with questions - Sakura couldn’t help but smile. She hadn’t realized how long it had been since she had been able to spend time with Sasuke and Naruto and having both of her brothers with her, even with them bickering as they were prone to do, made her feel warm inside.

  
  


“I miss you both,” she said suddenly, interrupting Naruto and Sasuke’s slowly escalating argument.

  
  


They both looked over to her, blinking in surprise as they processed what she had said, before they both smiled and relaxed back into their seats.

  
  


“I miss you too. We both do.” Naruto answered warmly.

  
  


“Maybe you can try inviting us over sometime,” Sasuke teased, Sakura shaking her head in amusement.

  
  


“Maybe I will.”

  
  


The group finished their dinner, chatting and catching each other up on the happenings in their lives. Once finished, they shared tight hugs goodbye and promises to see each other soon - Naruto going as far as to awkwardly say goodbye to the slowly growing babe in Sakura’s stomach, something that drew laughter from her and earned him another warm embrace.

  
  


After Naruto and Sasuke left, the muffled sound of Naruto’s beat down car and Sasuke’s motorcycle disappearing into the distance, Sakura silently huffed and pulled out her phone. She knew that Naruto would inevitably leak to Hinata that she was pregnant and, knowing how tightly Karin had Sasuke wrapped around her little finger, she knew it was likely she might already know. Deciding that she needed to get ahead of the information as best as she could so she didn’t have to deal with the backlash of a half dozen angry women, she opened up her text messages.

  
  


Perching on the edge of the couch, and finding the group chat that she was looking for, she typed and retyped her announcement before finally settling on something simple: “Hey, everyone, I have some good news… I’m pregnant and Madara and I are getting married”

  
  


Taking a steeling breath and closing her eyes to gather the strength she needed, she quickly pressed send. It wasn’t even a few seconds later before the read receipts for all of her friends began to pop up below her message, the text messages soon flooding in after.

  
  


‘ _Oooooh daaamn girl, congrats!!!!!_ ’

  
  


‘ _Wtf lmao, I thought you were a doctor, how’d you end up getting pregnant? Oh, congrats btw_ ’

  
  


‘ _Congratulations, Sakura! I’m so happy for you :)_ ’

  
  


It was only a heartbeat later before her phone switched screens, instead displaying a selfie that Ino had taken on Sakura’s phone while she wasn’t looking, and began to play the song Scarlet Begonias. Despite knowing the high energy conversation that awaited her, she picked up Ino’s call on the second ring.

  
  


“I can’t believe you’d tell us all that through a _text message_! You’re pregnant!? And you’re getting married?! When did all this happen, you better tell me everything now before I drive to your house! You know what, I’m conference calling everyone, you better tell us all the full story! Damnit, how do I add calls!?” Ino ranted, a wide smile spreading across Sakura’s lips.

  
  


“Thanks for the congratulations, Ino,” Sakura laughed in return.

  
  


“Yeah, yeah, congratulations. Oh! Figured it out, I’m adding Hinata first!”

  
  


Sakura’s smile just widened as she walked into the kitchen, grabbing the last slice of pizza before settling in on the couch.

  
  


* * *

  
  


For three months, Sakura and Madara slowly adjusted to both living together and to the changes that Sakura went through as their child slowly began to grow within her.

  
  


Sakura had been thrilled to discover the vast network of friends and people she considered family who supported her in her pregnancy, the core of the group being her fiancé. Madara, even while he spent a significant amount of time away from home as the war between the clubs continued, was her rock as she struggled through the emotional and physical changes her body went through.

  
  


When she dealt with morning sickness for months, he was there to help hold her hair back and to share with her his family’s secret remedies. While she had been hesitant to chew on lemon slices while her heartburn felt like it would burn a hole through her throat, she found a reliable cure by drinking ginger tea and snacking on dry crackers. When she had sudden and undeniable cravings for strange foods in the dead of night, he would readily cook her the meal she wanted or even drive to the grocery store to satisfy her cravings - something which had resulted in a strange plethora of foods overwhelming their refrigerator and pantries.

  
  


When Sakura found herself struggling with extremes in emotions, Madara was the shoulder she could cry on and the best friend she could gripe with when she lost her temper. A task that he was even happier to help with was her sudden and demanding needs for physical or sexual gratification, Madara finding little reason to complain when she would fly into his arms and start pulling at his clothes when he would return home.

 

As her belly slowly grew, he had even broached the topic of them looking into moving into a larger house, a home where they could truly begin a family together. While there had been little time to actually search for a home together, they would frequently share listings for houses together as they tried to narrow down what they both wanted in their dream house.

 

When they began to talk about wedding planning, Sakura had been alarmed to learn that Madara wanted to invite his entire family, a group of people which grew well into the hundreds. She wanted a small ceremony with just their closest friends and family members, especially considering there was only a handful of people outside of the Uchiha family that she was close to. After a long debate that spanned a few days, they came to the agreement that they would have a small ceremony but that they would host an after party where all of his family members and club mates could attend and give them their blessings.

  
  


While their relationship had flourished even farther with her accidental pregnancy and with their future wedding, they both continued to struggle with Sakura now being privy to nearly all of the club’s activities. With her now helping the MC as their doctor, she found herself being exposed to the realities of the violence in the club.

  
  


While Madara tried his best to keep the bloodier parts of the club hidden from her, there was often nothing he could do to prevent her from having to face it as their doctor. Such as when Izumi was stabbed during a confrontation with the Senju MC, when Kagami barely escaped one of their warehouses after it was set ablaze, or when Obito was clipped by a car while carrying out a mission he refused to speak of.

  
  


Despite the added stress from the illicit activities of the club - and the consequences that followed - and Madara’s frequent absence from their home, Sakura and Madara still worked to maintain their relationship. Whether it be using the year passes that Temari had gotten them to go to a few MMA matches as a couple, whether it was looking up houses, baby names, or planning their wedding together, or whether it was simply curling up together on the couch to watch movies, they spent as much time together as they could.

 

As the months passed with Sakura and Madara living together, Sakura had fallen in love with one thing in particular: the sound of his bike pulling up into the garage. The sound meant that her love was finally home and that they would finally be able to spend time together, that she would be able to be wrapped up in the arms of her fiancé and the father of her child.

  
  


Whenever she heard it, her mood would always improve and she would abandon whatever task she had been working on to go to the garage to greet him, snagging her welcoming kiss. Now that she had begun to show, Madara would greet their baby as well, dropping to his knees so he could wrap his arms around her middle and talk to their slowly growing babe.

  
  


Today was one such day.

  
  


Hearing the familiar and comforting sound of Madara’s bike pulling up into the garage, Sakura tucked a bookmark into her book on neurological disorders before pulling herself to her feet. A smile already forming on her face, she padded over to the door to the garage and pushed open the door with a warm, “Welcome home, Dara.”

  
  


Her smile dropped when she spotted him on the opposite side of the garage, shoving something made of cloth into one of the drawers in his work bench. Quickly closing the drawer as if to hide what he had been storing inside, he turned to face her with a smile.

  
  


“Hey, hellcat. How are you and our kitten doing today?” Madara asked as he finally walked over to greet her as he normally would.

  
  


Sakura’s eyes flicked downward, noting that he was wearing a different shirt than he had that morning. She felt as an immediate surge of rage and jealousy rushed through her like a burst of adrenaline, her thoughts immediately suggesting that he was cheating on her. That he was hiding some sort of evidence from her and that she had caught him in the act.

  
  


Forcing down her seething anger, she greeted him as she normally would, not wanting to start an argument that may have just been her spawned from her hectic emotions. Rather, she decided that she would investigate whatever it was that he had hidden later that night.

  
  


While she attempted to conceal her agitation, she knew that Madara could sense her upset from his surprised expression at her half-hearted affections. Even so, he didn’t bring up her standoffishness, even though she had a short fuse on her temper for the rest of the night.

  
  


It wasn’t until much later that night, after they had already eaten and gone to bed and after he had fallen asleep, that Sakura pulled herself out of bed. Quietly closing the bedroom door behind her, she sneaked into the garage and located the drawer that Madara had hidden something in earlier that day.

  
  


As she opened the drawer, her anger spiked at the sight within: the shirt he had been wearing that morning. She nearly growled as she tugged the shirt out of it’s hiding place, thinking that the cloth would have a lipstick stain on it or something else incriminating. When the shirt unfolded in her hands, however, and the heavy blood splatters on the front were revealed, she dropped the shirt as if it had burned her.

  
  


Sakura took a step back in her surprise, her hand covering her mouth as if to catch the soft gasp that spilled from her lips. Her thoughts raced as she stared down at the stained shirt crumpled on the floor, the russet splatters staring back up at her.

  
  


No one had come to her for treatment that day and she knew that Madara himself was uninjured. There was far too much blood decorating the cloth on the floor for it to be from a simple cut… Staring down at the cloth, she realized that that only meant one thing: Madara had either hurt or killed someone that day and he had been trying to protect her by hiding the evidence from her.

  
  


Sakura tried to fight back against the heat she could feel building behind her eyes but failed, tears slipping down her cheeks. She hastily wiped them away but found herself unable to control the ones that followed, the stress from her pregnancy and his frequent absence from her life fueling her sorrow.

  
  


She knew of the bloody aspects of the club but, when she was faced with evidence of Madara’s violence, she was still overwhelmed by it. Rapidly gathering up the crumpled shirt from the floor, she shoved it back into its hiding place, trying to return everything to how it was despite struggling to see through her tears.

  
  


Abandoning the garage, she flew into the bathroom, quickly washing her hands. She sat on the toilet seat for a long few minutes, allowing herself to succumb to her tears and trying to rid herself of the sorrow and the anxiety that had built up within her. Taking a few deep breaths, she was finally able to reel in her soft crying and gather herself, wiping her face and trying to hide the evidence of her tears.

  
  


When she sneaked back into bed, her heart was still racing in her chest. Even when Madara sleepily rolled over and wrapped her in his arms, pulling her against his chest, it would not stop. Even as she settled back into the quiet of their bedroom, the silence feeling wrong in the wake of her realization, her heart continued to pound.

  
  


It felt like hours until Sakura was finally able to fall asleep, her racing thoughts continuing even into her dreams which showed her nothing but disaster.

  
  


* * *

  
  


That next morning, Sakura awoke to an empty bed.

  
  


After she pulled herself out of bed and wrapped herself in her robe, she headed into the living room to see if she truly was alone. She was first met by the sweet smell of something cooking before she found Madara, already awake and dressed, standing in front of the stove.

  
  


Hearing her enter the living room, he looked over his shoulder and greeted her with a smile. “Good morning, love. Hope you’re in the mood for pancakes. I remember you were really craving them the other morning so I hope the cravings haven’t switched back to pickles and ice cream again. Although I’m sure there are more of those in the fridge too.”

  
  


Sakura floundered for the proper response, the domestic scene before her a sharp contrast to her secret discovery from the night before. After a couple heartbeats, she finally gathered herself enough to try to return his smile although she knew it didn’t reach her eyes.

  
  


“I’m actually not really hungry this morning…” she muttered in response, pulling her robe around her tighter as she uneasily settled into her seat at the kitchen table.

  
  


“Oh…” Madara returned quietly, pausing in his flipping of a pancake before shaking his head and continuing anyways, “Well, looks like we’ll have more leftovers for later then.”

  
  


“Are you not going to eat?” she asked.

  
  


“I don’t have time. I’m needed back at the clubhouse here in about twenty minutes. I just wanted to make sure you had something to eat before I left,” he explained, scooping up the pancake in the pan and loading it onto a plate already balancing a tall stack that he had prepared for her.

  
  


Sakura felt as a surge of guilt ran through her, her chest tightening. She pushed it down, instead forcing her gaze and her attention on the pile of unopened letters on the table instead. Reaching forward, she tried to sort through the mail although she found that she couldn’t focus on the words on the envelopes with her thoughts still racing. She was hyper aware of Madara in the kitchen, unable to help but listen as he wrapped up the plate of pancakes in plastic wrap before putting them into the fridge and as he loaded the dirty dishes into the sink.

  
  


There was a long few moments before Sakura felt as he walked up behind her, his presence a heavy weight at her back.

  
  


“Are you okay…?” Madara asked softly as he sat down at the kitchen table next to her, leveling her with a concerned look.

  
  


“Don’t worry about me,” she answered with a half-hearted smile, “I’m fine.”

  
  


“Would you tell me if something was bothering you?” he continued, reaching forward to wrap one of her hands in his own.

  
  


Sakura struggled for words for a few seconds before answering honestly, “When I was ready.”

  
  


His mouth popped open as if to speak although he struggled for words for a few moments. Finally, he nodded, giving her a sad smile as he replied, “I understand… I love you.”

  
  


“I love you too,” she returned softly, squeezing his hand.

  
  


“I have to go now but I’ll try to be home early tonight.”

  
  


“Okay… I… Just, be safe… please…” Sakura whispered, feeling as her melancholy from before threatened to wash over her again and bring her tears with it.

  
  


“Of course,” Madara replied, leaning forward to press a lingering kiss to his lips.

  
  


Sakura remained in her seat as he went to grab his keys and pull on his boots and his cut, the sound of the door to the garage opening and closing behind him. She listened as the mechanical garage door rolled open and the sound of his bike roaring to life. It wasn’t until she heard the garage door roll shut, and the sound of his bike disappearing into the distance, that she finally stood.

  
  


She silently made her way back into the garage, her thoughts still wild as she walked towards his work bench. Not sure what she would find, or even why she was looking, she opened the drawer from the night before and was greeted by the sight of a number of tools and the smell of bleach. Gently closing it, she turned and headed back inside.

  
  


Her heart in her stomach, Sakura headed to the sliding glass door in the living room and stepped outside into the chilly morning air. Pulling her robe tighter around herself, she silently walked over to the fire pit in their back yard and found it was still smoldering.

  
  


Staring down at the embers and ash before her, she felt as heat began to build up behind her eyes once again. Dropping her face into her hands, she allowed herself to give way to her tears once again.

  
  


When would the peace come?

  
  


* * *

  
  


Sakura’s day was spent in quiet contemplation. She was happy that no one attempted to bother her, giving her the time she needed to overcome her tears and sort through her thoughts. She received no text messages on her phone, she received no phone calls, and neither Izuna or Obito decided to drop by for a surprise visit. She found herself, for once, happy to be alone.

  
  


Trapped in her thoughts and finding herself in a daze as she took care of her daily necessities, it wasn’t until later that night, when she heard Madara’s bike pull into the garage, that she finally fully returned to herself.

  
  


Sakura pulled herself to her feet to greet him as she normally would, although she remained deeply conflicted. When she gave him her greeting kiss and while he said hello to their child, she wondered how she would bring up her concerns; how she would bring up the bloody shirt she had found and her rising anxiety with the war between the clubs. She had no idea what to say.

  
  


She wasn’t even sure what she wanted or the answer she needed...

  
  


Sakura found herself back on her perch on the couch, agonizing over how she could begin this conversation and trying to discover what she needed to be comforted, while her fiancé took a shower. When Madara finally emerged from the bathroom and slid onto the couch behind her, pulling her into his arms and against his chest, she found herself no closer to her answer.

  
  


“How’s our kitten doing today?” he asked as she leaned back against his chest and into his embrace.

  
  


“ _Your_ little demon had me heading to the bathroom ten times today,” Sakura answered, drawing a huff of amusement from her lover as his hand slid down to rest on her stomach.

  
  


“She’s going to be a little hellion then, just like her mom,” Madara hummed in return.

  
  


“She?” she parroted, “Are you thinking they’ll be a girl?”

  
  


“I have a good feeling. My family is pretty intuitive when picking out what gender they’ll be. Family skill. My father was able to figure out that all of my brothers and I were going to be boys,” Madara explained before chuckling, “My mom was quite upset, as you can imagine. She always wanted to try for a girl but, after giving birth to a fifth son, she punched my father in the gut and got her tubes tied.”

  
  


Sakura snorted out a surprised laugh, thinking of how Madara’s mother sounded like an extraordinary woman. It was times like this, when he would tell her happy stories about his deceased family members, that she felt a sense of loss at never having been able to meet them.

  
  


“I really wish I had gotten to meet your parents…” she stated sadly.

  
  


“You say that now but if they found out you were pregnant with a girl, I’d never get a moment to you myself again,” Madara explained, amused, drawing another smile from Sakura.

  
  


Leaning back against him, she allowed herself to settle farther into his embrace, something he welcomed as he nuzzled the crown of her head. Her smile slowly faded away as her thoughts from that day returned, her concern making it difficult for her to enjoy the affectionate embrace of the man she loved.

  
  


Sitting in the comfortable silence for a couple minutes, he happily cuddled her, his hand tracing the shape of her burgeoning belly. The silence, and her thoughts, remained uninterrupted until he began to chuckle.

  
  


“What are you thinking?” she asked, leaning back so she could peer up at him.

  
  


“You smell really good,” he answered, Sakura huffing out a laugh in return.

  
  


“Honestly though…” Madara began once again, “Do you remember the time you first explored my tattoos?”

  
  


“Yes?”

  
  


“I have a confession.”

  
  


“Oh?”

  
  


“I was already thinking of putting a baby in you,” he admitted, Sakura dropping her head to hide her smile and the blush which spread across her cheeks.

  
  


“I may or may not have been too… The way you were touching my belly when you said our kid would have dark hair and dark eyes…” She shrugged. “I couldn’t help it.”

  
  


He pressed a kiss to her temple, nuzzling her hairline as he whispered, “I tried to envision what you would look like heavy with child and…”

  
  


“And what?” Sakura pressed softly, raising her head to look into his eyes.

  
  


Madara reached out, cradling her cheek in his hand and brushing his thumb across her cheekbone. He gazed into her eyes, a smile stretched across his lips and love in his eyes.

  
  


“You are so much more beautiful that I could have ever imagined,” he declared passionately, her lips parting in surprise at his confession.

  
  


Sakura felt as tears began to well up in her eyes, these tears ones of happiness as opposed to the ones of sorrow she had been struggling with. Turning in his embrace, she wrapped her arms around his shoulders, holding him tightly. His arms looped around her waist, holding her as close as he could with her slowly growing belly, as she hid her face in his neck.

  
  


As she basked in the affection of her fiancé, and as she let the joy from his confession - and the unwavering love behind it - wash over her, she finally realized what it was that she wanted, what comfort it was that she had been seeking.

  
  


More than anything, she just wanted this war to end so she could live a safe, happy life with the man she loved and their child. She knew that he loved her just as she did, that he wanted the exact same thing that she did and that he was doing everything that he could to realize that dream.

  
  


Deciding that she would keep her discovery of his bloody shirt to herself, Sakura felt as if a weight had been dropped from her shoulders. Despite the feeling of anxiety and dread lingering in the back of her mind, and the feelings of fear of losing Madara or the others to the war that spawned it, she was finally able to enjoy the moment of closeness that she had with him.

  
  


After all, she knew that Madara was striving for peace. Whatever he had done, she knew that he had no choice and that, despite how he was able to conceal how his actions affected him, he was not unphased.

  
  


Pulling back from him, she tilted her head so she could kiss him gently. One kiss after another followed, her wanting nothing more than to show him her love in that moment and feel his love in return. Their kisses slowly escalated into something more passionate as his hands tightened around her hips, holding her firmly and sending a shiver of anticipation up her spine.

  
  


When Sakura reached down to tug at the hem of his shirt, Madara chuckled against her lips. “I think I can only give you one child at a time.”

  
  


“Who’s the doctor here?” she asserted firmly, pulling back to level him with a serious look as she settled more fully against his lap.

  
  


Madara laughed in return, leaning forward to press another lingering, passionate kiss to her lips.

  
  


“Whatever you want, hellcat.”

  
  


* * *

  
  


As Sakura packed up her purse, tucking her book and a few notes she had taken that day into the bag, she fished out her phone. As she hooked her purse over her shoulder and walked out of the office she shared with Shizune, she scrolled through her contacts and found the number she was looking for.

  
  


Placing her phone against her ear, she waved goodbye to the nurses she worked with as she walked to the elevator. It wasn’t until the third ring that her call was answered.

  
  


“Hello, love. Are you just getting off of work?” Madara’s voice asked from the other end of the line.

  
  


“Yeah, I stayed a bit late to catch up on some paperwork. I’m leaving the hospital right now,” Sakura answered as she pressed the down button on the elevator, patiently waiting for the lift to arrive.

  
  


“Did you have a good day?”

  
  


“It was pretty good. My patients were all very nice today and everything went smoothly,” she answered.

  
  


“I’m glad to hear it.” Sakura could hear the smile in Madara’s voice.

  
  


“Will I get to see you tonight?” she asked softly, stepping into the elevator and pressing the button for the ground floor when she entered.

  
  


“I really hope so… I’m going to try my damndest.”

  
  


“I really miss you, Dara… It seems like the club is always keeping you away… Coming home to an empty house every night, it… it hurts not being able to be together,” she confessed, the elevator dinging as it reached the bottom floor.

  
  


“I know… I want to spend every moment I can with you. With you and our baby. I want to remember it all but with everything that’s happening…” Madara explained gently as Sakura walked towards the exit, her heels clicking against the tile floor.

  
  


“I’m just scared… With you being gone all night and only seeing you in the early mornings… I’m worried about you,” Sakura whispered into her phone, not wanting anyone to hear her conversation in the silence of the bottom floor.

  
  


“I’m doing everything I can to keep everyone safe. I’m sorry I haven’t been around as much as I used to but I promise you I’m trying to change that.”

  
  


“I believe you…” Sakura replied quietly, “Just please be safe too.”

  
  


“I will… I love you,” Madara promised.

  
  


“I love you too.”

  
  


Sakura hung up the phone, frowning at the darkened screen before dropping it into her bag. She passed by the security station, waving goodbye to the security officer who worked there, the young man smiling and waving in return.

  
  


“Have a nice night, Dr. Haruno,” he called out.

  
  


“You too, Konohamaru,” she returned as she exited through the sliding double doors and out into the cool night air.

  
  


As Sakura walked into the parking lot, she fished out her keys from her bag. She easily spotted her jeep, parked in the middle of the lot, and headed towards it, her hand absentmindedly tracing the curve of her growing belly.

  
  


As she walked to her vehicle, she heard what sounded like the door to a van sliding open. Curiously peering over at the nondescript, plain white van parked next to her jeep, she stopped in her tracks at the sight of two masked men emerging from the space between the van and her vehicle. There was a heartbeat where she blinked in surprise at the two men, her gaze dipping down to the handguns tucked into their waistbands and the thick, looped zip tie held in one man’s hand. She took a step backwards in shock, her bag slipping off of her shoulder and her keys falling out of her hands.

  
  


The sound of her belongings hitting the asphalt below her and the sight of the two men, still not speaking a word, suddenly rushing at her sent a burst of frantic adrenaline through her body. One of the masked men reached out to roughly grab her by the arm, Sakura reacting on instinct and easily breaking his hold, while the other stepped behind her and tried to trap her in a body lock.

  
  


Before the man could complete his bear hug, Sakura lifted her arm so he trapped her arm in between his hands. Grabbing her other hand, she roughly pulled down, breaking his hold on her which he scrambled to regain. Rapidly grabbing his wrist and turning so her side faced his, she elbowed him sharply in the chin, wrenching a surprised and pained yell from him.

  
  


In his partner’s stunned state, her other attacker rushed forward, hooking his arm around her throat and dragging her backwards. Sakura reached up, grabbing one of the fingers on the hand on the back of her head, and wrenched hard, a muffled pop sounding shortly followed by another yell of pain. Using his distraction, she grabbed the hand of the arm looped around her throat, pulling it back just enough to slip out of his hold and kick backwards, her heeled foot planting into his gut and throwing him to the ground.

  
  


Her other assailant, finally having gathered his bearings, shot forward, attempting to shove her in the direction of their van. Sakura side stepped his charge, pushed him as he passed and making him lose his balance. As he slammed into the corner of their van and tried to regain his footing, she whipped around to face her other attacker and was shocked by a fist slamming into her cheek, her head whipping to the side under the force of the blow.

  
  


Momentarily stunned, and with the sudden taste of blood overwhelming her senses, she barely heard him snarl, “Uchiha whore!”

  
  


When the man grabbed her by the hair and drug her backwards, Sakura felt a surge of panic as she was sharply reminded of when that girl all those years ago had done the same. Whipping around to maintain her footing, even with her scalp screaming in pain as her hair twisted in his rough grip, she struck out with her fist. When her fist met his nose through his mask, another crack sounded through the silent parking lot, the man’s grip immediately loosening as his nose was broken.

  
  


Not wasting the little time she had, Sakura hooked her foot around his legs and shoved, tossing the man to the ground. Rushing forward, she kicked him across the face, feeling as the bones of his cheek shattered beneath her strike.

  
  


When Sakura whipped around to confront her other assailant, her eyes widened at the sight of the barrel of a gun pointed at her face.

  
  


Before the man could even speak, Sakura shot out with her hand, grabbing the gun and pushing his hand so the barrel of the gun pointed away from her. In his shock, the man pulled off a round, the sound of the gun going off right next to her head making her ears ring. The bullet shot off into the parking lot, the feeling of it whizzing passed her making her heart leap in her chest.

  
  


Not allowing the man to regain control of his weapon, Sakura shot out with the heel of her palm, slamming into the man’s throat. He immediately choked, his grip on his weapon loosening and allowing Sakura to wrench it from his grip. Scrambling backwards a few steps, Sakura raised the weapon and, when he moved to rush at her once again, she pulled the trigger three times.

  
  


The man flinched with each bullet that hit him, one bullet missing entirely and breaking the windshield of a car in the distance. He collapsed to the ground, motionless, his limbs splayed out at unnatural angles.

  
  


Her other assailant, the man with the broken nose and cheekbone who was still laid out on the ground, screamed as his partner crumpled to the asphalt. Sakura jumped, whipping around and focusing her stolen weapon onto her other attacker. The man struggled to return to his feet, swaying dangerous as he did, his seething gaze pinned on her.

  
  


“You bitch! You fucking killed him! Those monsters killed my uncle and you killed my brother, you fucking slut!” he roared, the venom behind his words shaking Sakura to her core.

  
  


A hundred possible futures flashed before her mind’s eye as she stared down her weapon and at the screaming man on the ground. She thought of how he would easily live through the injuries she had given him, especially with him next to the hospital. She thought of the grudge he would hold against her for killing the man he said was his brother. She thought of him coming back to kill her for what she had done, of him coming back to kill someone she loved for what she had done.

  
  


Based off of his words, this man was in the Senju MC. He had been sent to take her because she was the fiancée of the president of the Uchiha MC. He would come again. He would come again and he would come with others if he lived. He would kill her. He would kill her baby. He would kill someone she loved.

  
  


In the heartbeat it took for these thoughts to shoot through her mind, Sakura decided. It would be better for her, better for those she loved, if this man died tonight.

  
  


More than her fear at having these two men try to take her, more than the fear she felt for those who might be in danger if he was allowed to live, Sakura was furious. She was furious at him for attacking her. For coming to her place of work to abduct her in the middle of the night. For putting her and _her baby_ in danger.

  
  


As the masked man continued to scream obscenities at her, the hatred and the bloodlust in his voice making her stomach roil, Sakura pulled the trigger twice. She watches as two holes suddenly appeared in his chest and then in his neck, his venomous words immediately dying in his throat. He stared at her blankly for a long moment, the sudden silence surrounding them more deafening than the gunshots, before blood began to pour from his open wounds.

  
  


Her attacker collapsed onto the ground, twitching uselessly, as blood rapidly pooled around him. As Sakura watched the man die, she became suddenly aware of how badly she was shaking. As she watched the man bleed to death, the gravity of what she had done finally hit her.

  
  


She had killed him.

  
  


She had never killed anyone before...

  
  


Stumbling backwards, Sakura fell against the car behind her, setting off it’s alarm. As the piercing sound filled the terrifying quiet of the parking lot, she was startled back to her senses and when her senses returned, she finally grasped what she had just survived.

  
  


She had almost been kidnapped by two masked men. One who she had killed in self defense but the other who she had killed because she _wanted to_. She had narrowly escaped getting abducted, getting tortured, losing her child, losing her life, or maybe something even worse.

  
  


“Dr. Haruno! Dr. Haruno, are you okay!?” a man’s voice yelled out, Sakura finally raising her gaze from the corpses in front of her to fall on the security officer from the hospital running up to her.

  
  


“Dr. Haruno, please, tell me if you’re okay,” Konohamaru beseeched as he stopped before her, his eyes briefly flicking over to the bodies and the blood surrounding them before returning back to her.

  
  


Sakura tried to respond but immediately choked on her words, tears suddenly rushing down her cheeks. Her hands were trembling and it wasn’t until the security guard slowly took the gun from her hands that she realized she was holding it in a death grip.

  
  


Her eyes shot up to meet his, tears blurring her vision, and she whimpered the only thing she could think, “I w-want my husband.”

  
  


* * *

  
  


Madara laid out on the couch, Sakura wrapped around him as if he was her only anchor to keep her from drowning. Even with her asleep, her having cried herself to sleep in his arms, she did not loosen her grip on him.

  
  


Even with Sakura safe at home, wrapped up in his equally tight embrace, he could not restrain his fury. He had to fight to keep himself from shaking with the rage coursing through his blood and the shame welling in his bones.

  
  


He had nearly lost Sakura that night and it was his fault. It was his love for her, it was her being with him, that had made her a target and he hadn’t done enough to protect her.

  
  


The moment he had been told what happened would haunt him for the rest of his life.

 

He had just hung up the phone, he had _just_ been talking with her. It felt like seconds, even though he knew it was much longer, before Sasuke crashed into the meeting between the officers of the club, his face as white as a sheet. His voice was panicked, a very real fear in his eyes, when he finally got out that two men had tried to kidnap Sakura and that she had defended herself and killed them both.

  
  


It had been the security guard at the hospital who had rushed to the scene after hearing gunshots. He had been the one to call Sasuke since the only people in Sakura’s emergency contacts were Sasuke and Naruto. He had called Sasuke to tell him what had happened and that Sakura only wanted one thing.

  
  


“ _She wants her husband.”_

  
  


Nothing had ever been said to him, no words had even been spoken to him, that had filled Madara with more urgency and panic. Ignoring all of the voices around him, the concerned tones of his brother and his officers, he abandoned them all. Rushing out the door without a single thought to those he was leaving behind or the events in the club that desperately needed his attention, he frantically made his way to the hospital.

  
  


He paid no attention to the traffic signs on the roads that took him to the hospital in the heart of town, not a single thing in his mind aside from getting to Sakura. Every fiber of his being urged him forwards, demanded he waste no time in flying down the city roads in his truck and getting to the hospital. When he finally arrived, the sight of flashing lights from police vehicles surrounding the hospital making his heart drop further into his stomach, he didn’t even bother finding a space to park. Instead, he parked directly beneath the overhang which shielded the front door of the hospital from the rain.

  
  


Not even bothering to turn off his truck or even close the driver’s side door, Madara flew out of his vehicle to rush inside. He spotted Sakura sitting on a bench just inside the hospital doors, being comforted by a young man in a security uniform and flanked by a police officer. He would have sagged in relief if she hadn’t been sobbing.

 

As he tried to make his way inside, he was immediately greeted with police officers which he shoved through, desperate to get to Sakura’s side. They grabbed his arms to try to hold him back and, if he hadn’t had his eyes locked onto his wife, he would have broken their arms to find her.

  
  


“Sakura!” Madara yelled out, her head popping up when she heard her name.

  
  


When their eyes met through the glass of the double doors, he felt as if the entire world emptied around him. The only thing in that moment that mattered was her, was her being safe, was their baby being safe.

  
  


He watched as Sakura’s face twisted once more, fresh tears flooding down her cheeks, before she shot to her feet and rushed out the door to fly into his arms. When Madara finally felt her, felt her warmth and her body in his arms and knew for a fact that she was safe, he let loose all of the breath in his lungs. He crumpled around her, wrapping her up in his arms as tightly as he could. The weight and roundness of her belly pressing against his as she desperately tried to get closer, loudly sobbing his name into his chest, was a relief so powerful he nearly dropped to his knees.

  
  


When his eyes finally opened, the urge to cry himself finally being fought down, he was greeted by the shocked expressions of the police officers surrounding them. None of them had expected the kind doctor to run into the arms of the biker president of all things and he was not unaware of their filthy looks.

  
  


They knew it was his fault too.

  
  


Madara was only snapped into action when Sakura whimpered against his chest, “I want to go home…”

  
  


“I’m sorry, Dr. Haruno, but we need to speak with yo-” one of the police officers tried before Madara cut him off.

  
  


“You can contact the hospital if you have any more questions for my pregnant wife. _I’m taking her home_. She needs to rest, not spend time being interrogated,” he growled threateningly, none of the police officers pressing further as he carefully corralled his still sobbing wife to his truck, helping her into the passenger seat...

  
  


Madara knew he wasn’t angry at those police officers, despite his general hatred for the police. He knew that he was furious at himself. He hated himself because he hadn’t been there to keep her safe, because he hadn’t done enough to protect her.

  
  


Sakura's hands were now stained with blood that should have been piled onto his shoulders instead because he hadn’t been good enough to keep her safe.

  
  


If she hadn’t been trained, she would be getting tortured right now instead of safe at home, in his arms. Maybe worse… Those bastards would have used her to get to him and he would have done anything to get her back. He would have happily sacrificed his own life to save the lives of his wife and child.

  
  


He was going to burn the Senju clubhouse to fucking the ground. He was going to strangle Hashirama to death. He was going to kill his last remaining brother Tobirama in front of him.

  
  


How dare Hashirama send those bastards to take his _pregnant wife_.

  
  


Madara knew that they were enemies but he could hardly believe that the man he once called a friend would sink to such a low. Madara had always left Mito and Tsunade alone, he had never once dragged them, or any of their other family members, into their conflicts. And this was how Hashirama repaid him?

  
  


The war had been escalating for some time but this? They had gone too far. There was no turning back now.

  
  


There would be blood.

  
  


But for now… Madara held Sakura closer, wrapping himself around her as if he could keep her safe from anything just by being there with her now. As he held her close, fighting against his white hot rage and the crippling shame rushing through his blood like a poison, Fugaku’s words repeated in his head over and over.

  
  


_Not good enough, not good enough, not good enough..._

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To hopefully lighten the mood a little bit… Izuna brought his car when he went to see Sakura juuust in case she might have wanted to come with him to go shopping for baby supplies. The exact second he heard Sakura was pregnant, he turned into the overprotective uncle. Not just that, but he absolutely loves babies and has already taken it upon himself to be the designated nanny… Despite being a vicious drunk. Shame he’ll have to fight with Obito over who gets to babysit.
> 
> Also, the text messages Sakura received in response to her announcement, ‘Oooooh daaamn girl, congrats!!!!!’, ‘Wtf lmao, I thought you were a doctor, how’d you end up getting pregnant? Oh, congrats btw’, and ‘Congratulations, Sakura! I’m so happy for you :)’, were Tenten, Karin, and Hinata in that order. Temari is awful about responding to text messages and it took Ino trying to add her to the conference call three times for her to finally pick up with an angry ‘What!?’ She laughed for a solid minute before finally commenting that she was shocked Sakura was the first in their group to get pregnant.


End file.
